Japan made the most of a fast start to defeat China 6-1 and win its first Asian Winter Games women's ice hockey gold medal on Saturday, ending a run of five straight runner-up finishes at the games.
The team, known as Smile Japan, had won four straight games leading leading into the gold- medal match, scoring 92 goals while conceding none, and it looked like it would be more of the same as it jumped out a 5-0 lead in the final's first period.
Hopes of a perfect tournament were dashed, however, when the squad conceded its first goal in the 26th minute, but the Japan’s intense focus never gave China the chance get into the game at Tsukisamu Gymnasium.