Host nation announces a strong 18-member squad for Beijing 2022

China announced its 18-member squad for the Para ice hockey tournament at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games which begins on 4 March.

Coach Nikolay Sharshukov called up 17 male and one female player on a team that will make its Paralympic debut playing at home.

FAST-GROWING DEVELOPMENT

China made its breakthrough onto the international stage in 2018 by winning the C-Pool World Championships in Vierumaki, Finland.

Only a year later, Sharshukov's team made its debut at the B-Pool World Championships in Berlin, Germany. China finished third behind the RPC and Slovakia who clinched a spot in the A-Pool.

The Asian country continued its fast-growing development last year at the Ostersund 2021 B-Pool Worlds. With five wins in as many games, China earned the promotion into the A-Pool for the 2022-2023 season.

Forward Yifeng Shen was China's biggest star in the period leading up to the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics. He was named Best Forward at the 2019 World Championships B-Pool after leading China with seven goals and 13 total points.

Shen bettered his performance at Ostersund 2021 by scoring 14 and assisting for 12 goals. He was also named Best Forward of the tournament.

Shen will be joined by 16 of his Ostersund 2021 teammates at the Beijing 2022 Games. Defenceman Zhenyang Li is the only player not making his return to the team from the Ostersund 2021 squad.

The 20-year-old Zhi Lyu will take Li's place in the defence. He will make up a six-man Chinese defence at the Winter Paralympics together with Jinqiang Xu, Guangjian Hu, Zhanfu Zhu, Xuesong Bai, and Hang Che.

YU MAKING HISTORY

Shen will be an instrumental part of the strong forward line up together with team captain Yutao Cui, Hongguan Li, Dianpeng Qiu, Xiaodong Song, Zhidong Wang, Jujiang Wang, Zheng Zhang, Jintao Tian, and Jing Yu.

The 28-year-old Yu will be the only female athlete in the Para ice hockey tournament, and only the third female player ever to take part in the Winter Paralympics - after Norway's Brit Mjaasund Oeyen at Lillehammer 1994 and Lena Schroeder at PyeongChang 2018.

China will open its Paralympic campaign at the National Indoor Stadium on 5 March against Slovakia. The other two teams participating in Group B are Czech Republic and Italy.

Only the first two teams from Group B will make it to the quarterfinals where they will play against the bottom two finishers in Group A (USA, Canada, RPC, Korea) for the two semi-final spots.