News

Spotlight on: China women

November 22, 2015

About the team: China (FIH World Ranking: 5) have been in something of a transitional phase in recent years, but the current group is really starting to make some serious headway in their bid to restore the team to the performance levels achieved in 2008, when they claimed the silver medal at the Beijing Olympic Games.

There is a clear focus on youth these days, with the vast majority of players that have featured in recent squads being aged 23 or under. 28-year-olds Xu Xiaoxu and Ma Wei were the oldest members of the squad that took part in the Valencia Hockey World League Semi-Final in June, with the vast majority of the squad being aged between 19 and 23.

The relative youth of the team did not stop them from making big waves in Valencia, recording some excellent victories on their way to a hugely impressive second place finish behind Great Britain.

Their best performance came in the competition semi-final meeting with Argentina, with penalty corner expert Wang Mengyu scoring twice to give China a 2-1 win over Las Leonas. Ace goalkeeper Li Dongxiao and lively attacker De Jiaojiao are also influential players for a China team that is growing in confidence with every tournament that they enter.

Key player: Wang Mengyu. The 23-year-old defender is one of the most experienced campaigners in the  China team, and is fast developing a reputation as a feared goal-scorer from penalty corner situations. Despite her tender age, Wang has played well over 100 internationals and already has Olympic, World Cup and Asian Games experience under her belt.

Notable honours:
Olympic Silver medallists (2008)
World Cup Bronze medallists (2002)
Champions Trophy Gold medallists (2002)
2x Champions Trophy Silver medallists (2003, 2006)
Champions Trophy Bronze medallists (2005)
3x Asian Games Gold medallists (2002, 2006, 2010)
2x Asia Cup Gold medallists (1989, 2009)