China

Women

China come into the Rabobank Hockey World Cup currently ranked 7th in the FIH World Rankings, landing their place in this elite event thanks to a fourth place finish at last year’s Investec Hockey World League Semi-Final event in London. It is fair to say that this China team is currently in something of a transitional phase. Gone are the great players of the past such as Fu Barong and Ma Yibo, the inspirational duo who helped the team to win Silver at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. There is a clear focus on youth these days, with the vast majority of their side being aged 23 or under. The group contains just three players who have 100 caps to their respective names, with Wang Mengyu, De Jiaojiao and Xu Xiaoxu being by far and away the most experienced players in the squad. China showed great form in the early stages of last September’s Asia Cup continental championship in Kuala Lumpur, topping Pool A with three wins from three matches. However, they could not take their early form into the latter stages of the competition and finished fourth behind Japan (1st), Korea (2nd) and India (3rd). The youthful side recently performed admirably in a test series against New Zealand’s Black Sticks, losing the first game 3-2 before drawing the second match 1-1.

Best World Cup results:
The Chinese women won bronze at the 2002 World Cup in Perth.They have taken part in six World Cups.

FIH World Ranking:
7th

News:
10-03-2013: This is: China!
26-08-2013: Chinese women's team and Spain's men join World Cup line-up