The joint Korean women's ice hockey team had
their first and only practice match before
the Olympics begin on Friday.
And while Sunday night's friendly against
Sweden didn't end in victory -- it was a decent
result for a squad that's only had a few days
to train together before playing one of the
world's best teams.
Lee Ji-won has more.
Korea's joint women's ice hockey team took
to the rink together on Sunday for their first
competitive game with the Winter Olympics
just a matter of days away.
Playing against fifth-ranked Sweden,...
Team Korea lost the friendly three-one.
But Korea's head coach was happy with what
she saw.
"I think tonight's game was a great effort
from our team.
We played Sweden in July, last summer.
And it was a very one-sided game, they dominated
us pretty well.
But I felt like today was very back and forth
and our team has greatly improved since July."
Of the twelve North Korean players who joined
the squad, four were included in the 22-woman
roster for Sunday's match.
Jong Su-hyon played forward in the second
line, Ryo Song-hui played forward in the third
line and Kim Un-hyang played forward in the
fourth line together with defense Hyong Chung-gum
.
Considering how the North Korean players had
less than two weeks to train with the squad,...
Murray said they put in impressive performances.
"I think the North Korean players played really
well.
Being added twelve days ago and not getting
practice together all that much, they played
our systems pretty well.
So I'm very impressed with them today."
Under an agreement reached last month by the
International Olympic Committee, the national
committees of both Koreas and the PyeongChang
Organizing Committee,... twelve North Korean
players were added to South Korea's 23-woman
squad.
And of the 22 players available to play each
game, three North Korean players must be included
in every game.
Korea's joint ice-hockey team have their first
game at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on
February 10th,... against Switzerland in the
preliminary round.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
