On Monday (29 July), China’s women recorded one of their biggest ever wins on the Olympic stage, powering to a brilliant 5-0 victory over Asian rivals Japan.
It was a superb display from the 2022 Asian Games gold medallists, with Zhong Jiaqi, Li Hong, Ma Neng and a double from Gu Bing Feng scoring the goals as China bounced back from a narrow opening day loss against the also impressive Belgium.
It was something of a statement performance from the Beijing 2008 silver medallists, who are determined to put themselves into contention for a second Olympic podium finish here at Paris 2024.
While pleased with the result, head coach Alyson Annan – one of hockey’s greatest ever talents, having won two Olympic golds as a player with Australia before guiding the Netherlands women to Olympic glory at Tokyo 2020 – was already identifying areas which can be improved.
“We didn’t start confidently”, said Annan. “We didn’t play to the game plan and that made it a little bit difficult. But once we got that sorted (we went on to win comfortably). Last year at the Asian Games, we lost to this team, so it’s a big turnaround and so that was maybe in the back of the minds of the players. We were dominant (in that game), but we still lost.
“Today we wanted to be dominant and win. And I didn’t mention it, but possibly that was something that, in the first quarter, the players were still thinking about. There’s a bit of rivalry between Japan and China so there’s always that pressure of winning these games, even just for China. But we were dominant.”
The progress made by the China team in recent years has been notable, with a fifth-place finish in the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League being their best performance to date in the elite competition. They are once again a competitive force on the global stage, something Annan attributes to an exceptional work ethic and a real sense of unity contained within the group.
“We’ve worked really, really hard, and these players are capable of improving”, said Annan. “They soak up information and can implement it. I think we’re fit. We’ve trained very hard, physically, technically and tactically. We’ve made some adjustments. The players are much smarter (tactically) than they were a year ago, because they’ve been watching footage, and they’ve been doing their own analysis.
“At halftime, they (the players) are doing their own analysis. We’re coming into the changing room, and they’re in their groups, and they’re giving us feedback on what they think, and then we’re just adding on any additional stuff that we might think is appropriate.”
With the reigning Olympic, World, European and FIH Hockey Pro League champions the Netherlands up next for China (Wednesday 31 July, 20:15 CEST), Annan was quick to highlight that the mental approach taken by her players could be the difference between winning and losing.
“Any team here can win, and any team here can lose, and we’re going to go out there and be competitive and not think about their status”, continued Annan. “If we start playing the game thinking they’re going to win and we’re going to lose, we’ll lose. If we start the game wanting to be competitive, then anything can happen.”
The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 take place from Saturday 27 July to Friday 9 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at Paris 2024, visit Olympics.Hockey.
