MISAWA, Aomori Pref. – Hanae Kubo scored three goals for the second time in as many days Friday as Japan beat North Korea 6-1 for its second straight victory in the Winter Asian Games women’s ice hockey tournament.
Kubo beat North Korean goalie Hong Pong Hui to open the scoring with 46 seconds left in the first period and put Japan in front again at 4:00 of the second period after Choe Jong Sun tied it 1-1 nearly two minutes earlier at Misawa Ice Arena.
Captain Yuki Togawa, who netted four in a 21-0 drubbing of South Korea on Thursday, and Yuka Hirano made it 4-1 and Kubo completed her hat trick 51 seconds into the third period to give the host another cushion.
Earlier in the day, favorite China demolished South Korea 30-1 to get off to a flying start in its campaign to win a third straight gold medal of the games thanks to four goals each from captain Zhang Jing and Ma Xiaojun.
The Chinese set games records with the number of goals and winning margin.
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