Japan's Yumeka Wajima (#13) opens the scoring in Friday morning's game against Hungary at the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
Japan clinched its second victory in two days, seeing off Hungary with a 2-0 scoreline in Friday's Group B game. Yumeka Wajima, 22, got her first goal in Women’s World Championship play with a well-taken effort to open the scoring just before the first intermission then Akane Shiga potted an empty-netter to seal the win.
Wajima’s tally continues a breakout season on the international stage. Previously without a point in three campaigns, she opened her account during the Asian Women’s Games before plundering five goals in a successful Olympic qualification campaign.
“The Olympic Qualifiers were very important for me,” Wajima said. “I was able to score a lot of goals there and that gave me a lot of confidence.
“Now I’m at the World Championship and I still have that confidence, and it’s a great honour to be playing and scoring at this tournament.”
Hungary, without a goal for the second game in Ceske Budejovice, once again produced a strong defensive effort. While Japan enjoyed the lion’s share of possession it was difficult to plot a course through a disciplined Hungarian rearguard. But goalie Miyuu Masuhara made 27 saves to deny the newly promoted team its first success of the tournament.
Disappointed Hungarian captain Fanni Gasparics felt this was one that got away. “It will take a little time to digest, because I thought we had this game,” she said. “We had lots of chances and shots, but we couldn't get the puck in, and they found one goal. I think we just need to be harder in front of their net, and in front of our net too, and try to find the goals.”
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Japan made the breakthrough 23 seconds before the intermission with a fine individual effort from Yumeka Wajima. It came out of nothing: a stray pass from Hungary’s Krisztina Weiler allowed Wajima to make an interception in her own zone. Then it was all about pace as she raced away with two Hungarian defenders in her wake. Getting up close on Aniko Nemeth, she deftly sent the netminder the wrong way and slipped the puck into the open corner to snatch the lead.
“In the first period, there were not so many chances,” Wajima reflected. “But just before the end I saw an opportunity and I was able to get that goal. It was a great moment for me, and important for our team.”
And Japan almost doubled that advantage immediately: on the restart another misplaced Hungarian pass, this time in its own zone, invited Akane Shiga to the net but neither she nor Makoto Ito could get the puck past Nemeth’s outstretched pad.
For Hungary, this felt like a repeat of the opening game against Sweden: lots of hard work, some encouraging signs, but no goals. Once again, the defensive effort was superb, restricting Japan to just six shots at Nemeth in the opening frame. Much of that was due to a willingness to throw bodies in the way of incoming shots, a notable feature in the opening game against Sweden yesterday.
And for a spell in the second period there was a sense that the long-awaited first Hungarian goal of the tournament was imminent. Alexandra Huszak, usually the primary source of scoring, had a threatening rush but Miyuu Masuhara lowered the barriers as the forwards swarmed around the crease trying to force it home. Moments later, Regina Metzler got into a great position in front of the net, but couldn’t find the target.
However, another of those wayward passes gave Japan an out: Rui Ukita got clear, but couldn’t find the speed to escape Fanni Gasparics on the backcheck. The momentum swung back towards the Japanese, with Akane Shiga flashing a shot narrowly over the top and Rio Noro showing great hands to deke into the danger zone before the Hungarian defence again closed ranks to scramble the threat away.
The chances continued in the third. Good work from Mira Seregely behind the net set up Reka Dabasi on the slot but, under pressure from Aoi Shiga she could not steer her shot on target.
As Gasparics acknowledged, the challenge is to take potential and turn it into results. “We have to make some adjustments,” she said. “Our coaches will make them and then we will come out and show that we can score goals and win games here.
“We are a good team. We are together and we are trying to do our best. We've been through a tough time since February, it was a tough loss in Olympic qualification. But this is a new chance for us, and we'll do everything to take it.”
And, late on, there was a reprieve when Nemeth went to the bench in favour of a sixth skater. Japan got possession and Mei Miura fired into the open net only for the play to be called back for offside. But the final word went to Akane Shiga who potted her second of the tournament into an empty net with eight seconds on the clock.
That sealed a win and has Japan looking forward to upcoming tests against Germany and Sweden to secure that quarter-final spot. “We made a good start,” Wajima said. “Our big advantage is our speed. We want to keep that speed game because we’re expecting the next two games to be more difficult.”
Wajima’s tally continues a breakout season on the international stage. Previously without a point in three campaigns, she opened her account during the Asian Women’s Games before plundering five goals in a successful Olympic qualification campaign.
“The Olympic Qualifiers were very important for me,” Wajima said. “I was able to score a lot of goals there and that gave me a lot of confidence.
“Now I’m at the World Championship and I still have that confidence, and it’s a great honour to be playing and scoring at this tournament.”
Hungary, without a goal for the second game in Ceske Budejovice, once again produced a strong defensive effort. While Japan enjoyed the lion’s share of possession it was difficult to plot a course through a disciplined Hungarian rearguard. But goalie Miyuu Masuhara made 27 saves to deny the newly promoted team its first success of the tournament.
Disappointed Hungarian captain Fanni Gasparics felt this was one that got away. “It will take a little time to digest, because I thought we had this game,” she said. “We had lots of chances and shots, but we couldn't get the puck in, and they found one goal. I think we just need to be harder in front of their net, and in front of our net too, and try to find the goals.”
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HUNGARY V. JAPAN
GAME HIGHLIGHTS | CONDENSED GAME
Japan made the breakthrough 23 seconds before the intermission with a fine individual effort from Yumeka Wajima. It came out of nothing: a stray pass from Hungary’s Krisztina Weiler allowed Wajima to make an interception in her own zone. Then it was all about pace as she raced away with two Hungarian defenders in her wake. Getting up close on Aniko Nemeth, she deftly sent the netminder the wrong way and slipped the puck into the open corner to snatch the lead.
“In the first period, there were not so many chances,” Wajima reflected. “But just before the end I saw an opportunity and I was able to get that goal. It was a great moment for me, and important for our team.”
And Japan almost doubled that advantage immediately: on the restart another misplaced Hungarian pass, this time in its own zone, invited Akane Shiga to the net but neither she nor Makoto Ito could get the puck past Nemeth’s outstretched pad.
For Hungary, this felt like a repeat of the opening game against Sweden: lots of hard work, some encouraging signs, but no goals. Once again, the defensive effort was superb, restricting Japan to just six shots at Nemeth in the opening frame. Much of that was due to a willingness to throw bodies in the way of incoming shots, a notable feature in the opening game against Sweden yesterday.
And for a spell in the second period there was a sense that the long-awaited first Hungarian goal of the tournament was imminent. Alexandra Huszak, usually the primary source of scoring, had a threatening rush but Miyuu Masuhara lowered the barriers as the forwards swarmed around the crease trying to force it home. Moments later, Regina Metzler got into a great position in front of the net, but couldn’t find the target.
However, another of those wayward passes gave Japan an out: Rui Ukita got clear, but couldn’t find the speed to escape Fanni Gasparics on the backcheck. The momentum swung back towards the Japanese, with Akane Shiga flashing a shot narrowly over the top and Rio Noro showing great hands to deke into the danger zone before the Hungarian defence again closed ranks to scramble the threat away.
The chances continued in the third. Good work from Mira Seregely behind the net set up Reka Dabasi on the slot but, under pressure from Aoi Shiga she could not steer her shot on target.
As Gasparics acknowledged, the challenge is to take potential and turn it into results. “We have to make some adjustments,” she said. “Our coaches will make them and then we will come out and show that we can score goals and win games here.
“We are a good team. We are together and we are trying to do our best. We've been through a tough time since February, it was a tough loss in Olympic qualification. But this is a new chance for us, and we'll do everything to take it.”
And, late on, there was a reprieve when Nemeth went to the bench in favour of a sixth skater. Japan got possession and Mei Miura fired into the open net only for the play to be called back for offside. But the final word went to Akane Shiga who potted her second of the tournament into an empty net with eight seconds on the clock.
That sealed a win and has Japan looking forward to upcoming tests against Germany and Sweden to secure that quarter-final spot. “We made a good start,” Wajima said. “Our big advantage is our speed. We want to keep that speed game because we’re expecting the next two games to be more difficult.”