Smile Japan Earns Its 4th Consecutive Olympic Ice Hockey Berth

TOMAKOMAI, Hokkaido Prefecture ― Smile Japan celebrated its fourth straight women's Olympic ice hockey berth with a 4-1 win over China on Sunday, February 9. It was the last game of the IIHF Group G Women's Ice Hockey Final Olympic Qualification tournament.

The tournament host finished atop Group G with a perfect 3-0 record.

A day after securing a spot in the 10-nation tournament at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, Japan was looking to remain undefeated. It opened the tourney with a 7-1 win over France on Thursday and earned a 6-0 win over Poland on Saturday that clinched the Olympic berth.

Smile Japan — *Japan and Poland compete at Nepia Ice Arena on February 8. (JAPAN ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION)*

China beat Japan 3-2 at the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championship so Yuji Iizuka's team was out for a measure of revenge in Sunday's final game of the tournament at Nepia Ice Arena.

"I just told my players to approach today's game as they did the previous two," Iizuka said. "The players stayed focused and played with a lot of pride."

Strong Start for Smile Japan in Final Tournament Match

Japan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Yumeka Wajima and Rui Ukita.

Wajima opened the scoring at 3:26 of the first period on a delayed penalty when Japan took advantage of an extra attacker. The 22-year-old forward Wajima took a pass from Suzuka Maeda and beat China goalie Jiahui Zhan low on the stick side with a wrister from close range.

Ukita doubled the advantage three minutes later when Makoto Ito won a face-off and got the puck back to Ukita, who fired it in from the top of the face-off circle.

Baiwei Yu cut the deficit to 2-1 on a power play early in the second period when her shot from just inside the blue line deflected in off a player in front of the net.

It was only the second goal given up by Japan in the tournament.

Additional Scoring for Smile Japan

Akane Shiga gave Japan a two-goal cushion in the final minute of the second period with a wrist shot over the blocker of Zhan. Veteran defender Akane Hosoyamada added a late goal in the third period to complete the scoring.

Japan scored a total of 17 goals in its three tournament games.

"We talked about the importance of increasing our offensive output before the tournament," Iizuka said. "A lot of players who weren't with us at the previous Olympics contributed goals this time and that's a very positive development for us."

Smile Japan Underwent Youth Movement

The win over Poland the previous day was a welcome result for a team that has gone through a big transition since the Beijing Olympics in 2022.

Players like Hanae Kubo and former captain Chiho Osawa have been replaced by a younger group, including new captain Shiori Koike.

"I felt a deep sense of responsibility," Koike said. "We went through a lot of challenges in the process of taking in new players. There were ups and downs."

Added Koike, "Many of the new players made major contributions in this tournament so it is very satisfying for us to see that."

Japan is seventh in the IIHF rankings. The Women's Olympic ice hockey tournament in Milan will feature 10 teams. Eight have already qualified, including host Italy and Russia.

But Russia's spot is dependent on an IOC ruling as to whether it can return to international competition. If Russia is ruled out of the 2026 Olympic Games, the second place team from Group G ― France ― could possibly qualify.

France Finishes 2nd

On Sunday, Clara Rozier scored a hat trick and added four assists as France romped to a 9-0 win over Poland to finish second in the group.

Margot Huot-Marchand scored for France two minutes in when she picked up her own rebound and swept it in from the side of the net.

Just over three minutes later, Rozier scored her first of three goals in the period when she took a stretch pass from Chloe Aurard and beat Poland goaltender Martyna Sass on a wrister from the high slot.

Rozier's second goal came on the power play midway through the opening frame.

With Natalia Nosal in the box for hooking, Rozier beat Sass on a wrist shot to the top corner on the stick side and the rout was on.

France placed second in the group with six points after two wins and a loss.

Author: Jim Armstrong

The author is a longtime journalist who has covered sports in Japan for over 25 years. You can find his articles on SportsLook.