Chinese Women Eye Top Six in Olympics Ice Hockey

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 28, 2001

Chinese Women Eye Top Six in Olympics Ice Hockey

The Chinese women's ice hockeyteam eyed top six in next year's Winter Olympics as they left hereThursday for Denver to have training and warm-up matches in the United States.

The Chinese women's ice hockeyteam eyed top six in next year's Winter Olympics as they left hereThursday for Denver to have training and warm-up matches in the United States.

"We will strive for a top six finish at the Salt Lake Olympic Games," said the Chinese head coach Yao Naifeng, who led China to a sixth finish at the Women's World Ice Hockey Championship held in Minneapolis, the United States in April.

"We face tough opponents in the first round," Yao said. "It will be very hard for us to get out of the group." The Chinese women, who won the fourth place at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, have been bracketed in Group B with defending Olympic champions the United States, Finland and Germany in the first-round round-robin matches at the Olympics with top two finishers cruising into the 1st-fourth play-offs.

"The more realistic goal for us in the group stage is to beat Germany," Yao said. The Chinese team will travel around Denver, Minneapolis and SanJose for training and warm-up matches with local teams before flying to Salt Lake City from Denver on February 1.

A total of eight teams will vie for the women's ice hockey goldat the Salt Lake Games slated for February 8-24. Reigning world champions Canada, Sweden, Russia, Kazakhstan have been drawn to Group A.