The Japanese improved to six points in the IIHF Group G Women’s Ice Hockey Final Olympic Qualification Tournament to clinch their fourth straight Olympic berth and fifth overall.
France defeated China 4-1 earlier Saturday at Nepia Ice Arena in Tomakomai, Hokkaido to earn three points.
Even if France was to defeat Poland on Sunday and Japan was to lose to China, Japan would still advance thanks to its 7-1 win over France in the opening match.
China has two points and Poland has none.
After their convincing win over France, the team known as “Smile Japan” was full of confidence against Poland and it showed early as they pumped six goals past goaltender Martyna Sass in the first period.
“We felt pretty confident after the opening win over France,” Japan coach Yuji Iizuka said. “So for today’s game, I just told my players to play like they did against France and we got off to a great start.”
Suzuka Maeda opened the scoring at 5:54 of the first when she took a pass in the slot from Mei Miura and ripped a slap shot past Sass.
Akane Shiga doubled the advantage at 11:23, picking up a rebound off her own shot and neatly tucking the puck in on a backhand.
Before the period was over, Rui Ukita and Yumeka Wajima added two goals apiece in rapid fashion and the rout was on against a Poland team that was simply overwhelmed by Japan’s speed.
“We had a team meeting and discussed how important it was to get a good start,” Ukita said. “We got off to a great start and I was determined to contribute today.”
Japan came into the tournament with many new players compared to their Olympic campaign four years ago. Gone was veteran Hanae Kubo, while stalwart Haruka Toko was injured.
“I’m very relieved we secure the Olympic berth,” Japanese captain Shiori Koike said. “We knew if things went our way today we could wrap up an Olympic berth, so we just went out there and tried to enjoy it."
Added Koike “This is the first step in building a new team. Now we have to take it to the next level and our goal is to win a medal."
At Number 7, Japan was the highest-ranked team in the tournament. The tournament in Milan will feature ten teams. Seven have already qualified including host Italy and Russia.
But Russia’s spot is dependant on an IOC ruling as to whether it can return to international competition. If Russia is ruled out of the 2026 Games, the second place team from Group G could possibly qualify.
FRANCE TOPS CHINA 4-1
In Saturday’s first game, France bounced back from its one-sided opening loss to Japan with a win over China to pick up its first points of the tournament.
France took a commanding 3-0 lead midway through the third period when Emma Nonnenmacher beat China’s goalie Jiahui Zhan with a blistering wrist shot from the top of the face-off circle.
China cut the lead to 3-1 five minutes later after Jiaxin Wang broke in on on her own and made a nice deke to slide the puck past France goaltender Margaux Mameri.
But the two-goal deficit for China didn’t last long. Just over a minute later, Lea Villiot picked up a rebound off a shot by Lore Baudrit and beat Zhan high on the stick side to restore the three-goal advantage.
After their 7-1 blowout loss to Japan in their opening game, France picked it up a notch and were the better team from the outset even though there was no scoring in the first period.
Margot Hout-Marchand finally broke the deadlock on a beautiful toe drag followed by a wrister over the glove of Zhan with under two minutes left in the second period.
“I think the key point for us was to keep our focus because the first goal didn’t arrive until the second period,” France coach Gregory Tarle said.
Added Tarle: “The good thing was to keep our focus and stick with our plan. The way we decided to play made the difference.”
France widened its one-goal advantage early in the third when Marie-Pierre Pelissou sent a shot to the goal from the far wing. After the initial stop, Julia Mesplede picked up the loose puck and slammed it home to make it 2-0.
China had four power play opportunities but weren’t able to capitalize.
“You gotta worry when you don’t get chances,” Chinese coach Dan Reja said. “But you have to capitalize on them. The chances were there and you’ve gotta put the puck in the back of the net.”
France improved to three points after two games, while China has two points.
In Sunday's closing action, France plays winless Poland, while Japan takes on China. Poland and France have never qualified for the Olympics. China played in the 2022 Beijing Games as the host nation.