Hockey players' inspirational performance likely to put sport in spotlight

From the relative obscurity of being ranked 14th in the world in 2022 to almost becoming the new Olympic champions, China's women's hockey team confidently announced its arrival at the elite level of the sport when it equaled its Olympic best performance and finished runners-up in Paris on Friday.

Entering the knockout stage as its group's lowest-ranked qualifier, the Chinese women's squad proved it deserves as much respect as all the other world-class contenders when it almost managed to knock defending champions the Netherlands off its golden throne in the final on Friday night in the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in the western Paris suburbs.

Almost, and to be precise, the victory was just eight minutes away.

After starting the final with an early goal in the sixth minute by forward Chen Yi, Team China, the sixth-ranked squad in the world at the start of the tournament, had to fall back and defend as the Netherlands piled on the pressure throughout the following three quarters, forcing China to fend off its surging attacks with a brave collective effort.

The top-ranked Netherlands team eventually scored a 52nd-minute equalizer, with Yibbi Jansen netting via a penalty corner and leveling the score close to the end of the 60-minutes of regulation time.

Having already survived a shootout in the knock-out stage during its semifinal win against Belgium on Wednesday, Team China ran out of luck after converting only one of its five attempts while conceding three goals, losing 3-1 in the tiebreaker.

Applauded by its opponents and cheered on by many of the orange-clad fans on the stands, the Chinese team jumped onto the podium during the medal ceremony as proud as the winners on the top step.

It was all about honor and pride, instead of disappointment and frustration, said Team China's head coach Alyson Annan.

"We regret nothing. We knew that today was going to be difficult, playing against the No 1 in the world. We took them to the shootout. We can only be proud (of ourselves)," said Annan, an Australian legend in the sport who took over the Chinese team in 2022.

"I am not surprised. About six months ago, we kind-of figured that if we were doing all the right things that we could be here," said Annan, who guided Team China to sixth place in the global rankings prior to Pairs from 14th in the International Hockey Federation rankings when she was appointed.

"We were confident that we were doing all the right things in our training and we were progressing the way we should be. So we knew we were on the right track," she added.

It was the Chinese women's second Olympic silver medal, and the first achieved at an overseas edition of the Games, the first having been won on home soil at the 2008 Beijing Games.

After returning to the Olympic podium and mainstream exposure 16 years later, the Chinese players now hope their hard-fought achievement will draw more attention to the otherwise niche sport in China.

"We came so close. It was just a near miss that we felt a little bit regretful. But we are so proud to give the sport another opportunity to be seen and be followed," said Team China's captain Ou Zixia.

"We've caught up with the world best. I hope this medal will inspire more young people to grow interest in hockey and try it themselves. I also wish the younger generation could carry on with what we did and grow their level further than we did," said the veteran defender, who has represented China in 174 international matches across three Olympic Games.