By Kim Young Shin
Photos = Yonhap News

The joint South and North Korean women’s ice hockey team played its first friendly match against the Swedish national team at the Seonhak International Ice Rink in Incheon on Feb. 4, less than a week away from the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

It was the debut match for the joint team, which has been practicing together since Jan. 28 at the Jincheon National Training Center.

The Korean team wore a special uniform with a map of the Korean Peninsula on it, inscribed with the name, “Korea.” During the first period, Sweden’s Rebecca Stenberg and Hanna Olsson each scored a goal at 16:16 and 17:50. South Korea’s Park Jong-ah had a goal, too. However, Sweden’s Erika Grahm scored another goal with 0:12 left in the period, defeating the Korean team by 3-1 (3-1, 0-0, 0-0).

“We added [the North Korean players] 12 days before the Olympics started, but they’ve been doing a great job,” said Sarah Murray, the head coach of the joint Korean team during a press briefing after the game.

“The North Korean athletes played really well. This is probably one of the biggest crowds in front of which they’ve played. They executed our systems pretty well, so I’m very impressed with them today,” she said.

“If the athletes from North and South get together and try hard together, I’m sure we will definitely get good results,” said Jong Su-hyon, a North Korean player.

The joint Korea team will play against Switzerland on Feb. 10, Sweden on Feb. 12 and Japan on Feb. 14 in the group stage matches in the Olympics.





ysk1111@korea.kr