Russia has well used the U18 Women’s Worlds to shape players like pictured Anna Shokhina for success with the senior team.
photo: Matt Zambonin / HHOF-IIHF Images
When the IIHF established an annual U18 event for women starting in 2008, it changed the women’s game exponentially. This junior event gave young girls an early goal, and from there they could learn and build and develop for the senior Women’s Worlds.
Perhaps no country benefitted more from the additional tournament than Russia, which won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2016 Women’s Worlds with rosters developed largely from U18 play.
When the Russians won that bronze at the 2013 Women’s Worlds (their first since 2001), it did so with a roster that included 13 players who had WW18 experience. Two years later, that next bronze was won with 15 players with junior experience.
Today, the winning has continued at the WW18 level, which means we can expect more impressive results in the senior women’s tournaments from Russia. The country has played in the bronze-medal game in every one of the last six Women’s U18 tournaments, winning bronze at both the 2015 and 2017.
Because the talent pool isn’t very deep in Russia, there is also some overlap in participation between the two categories of competition. Consider, for instance, Anna Shokhina. She played at the 2013 and 2014 WW18, then the 2014 Olympics, then the 2015 WW18, winning bronze. She went on to play at the 2017 WW, 2018 Olympics, and 2019 WW and was in the camp before this year’s cancelled Women’s Worlds.
Fanuza Kadirova is another player who used WW18 events to earn a spot on the WW team but was still young enough to return to WW18 and help her team win. She played at the 2014 and 2015 WW18, but also the 2015 WW. She returned to play at the 2016 WW18 and then helped Russia win bronze at WW that same year. Still only 21, she has played on four Women’s Worlds, three WW18, and the 2018 Olympics, and was also named to the 2020 team for the camp.
The same can be said for Nina Pirogova, who won bronze at the 2015 WW18 but also at the 2016 WW and back at the WW18 in 2017.
Russia is not the deepest country in women’s hockey in terms of number of female players, but it has used its youth both to develop better junior teams, turn that experience into medal success at the Women’s Worlds, and then earn more success back at WW18. And given its recent WW18 success, Russia seems poised to enter the discussion with Finland about what European nation might next compete for gold.
Click here for the overview of stories.
Perhaps no country benefitted more from the additional tournament than Russia, which won bronze medals at the 2013 and 2016 Women’s Worlds with rosters developed largely from U18 play.
When the Russians won that bronze at the 2013 Women’s Worlds (their first since 2001), it did so with a roster that included 13 players who had WW18 experience. Two years later, that next bronze was won with 15 players with junior experience.
Today, the winning has continued at the WW18 level, which means we can expect more impressive results in the senior women’s tournaments from Russia. The country has played in the bronze-medal game in every one of the last six Women’s U18 tournaments, winning bronze at both the 2015 and 2017.
Because the talent pool isn’t very deep in Russia, there is also some overlap in participation between the two categories of competition. Consider, for instance, Anna Shokhina. She played at the 2013 and 2014 WW18, then the 2014 Olympics, then the 2015 WW18, winning bronze. She went on to play at the 2017 WW, 2018 Olympics, and 2019 WW and was in the camp before this year’s cancelled Women’s Worlds.
Fanuza Kadirova is another player who used WW18 events to earn a spot on the WW team but was still young enough to return to WW18 and help her team win. She played at the 2014 and 2015 WW18, but also the 2015 WW. She returned to play at the 2016 WW18 and then helped Russia win bronze at WW that same year. Still only 21, she has played on four Women’s Worlds, three WW18, and the 2018 Olympics, and was also named to the 2020 team for the camp.
The same can be said for Nina Pirogova, who won bronze at the 2015 WW18 but also at the 2016 WW and back at the WW18 in 2017.
Russia is not the deepest country in women’s hockey in terms of number of female players, but it has used its youth both to develop better junior teams, turn that experience into medal success at the Women’s Worlds, and then earn more success back at WW18. And given its recent WW18 success, Russia seems poised to enter the discussion with Finland about what European nation might next compete for gold.
Click here for the overview of stories.