(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-24 10:15

China's women's hockey team is struggling to find adequate players largely because no one is willing to pay them, an ice hockey official has said.

"The sport's governing body in the provinces does not pay any attention to the sport, and even the full-time players only have a monthly income of about 1,000 yuan ($138)," Yu Tiande, head of the ice hockey department of the Winter Sports Administrative Center, told Beijing Youth Daily. "So the number of professional players is shrinking terribly in recent years."

From its fourth-place finish at the 1998 Nagano Olympics ona team with 15 part-time players out of the total 23-member squad, the team has hit rock bottom and lags far behind the rest of the world.

In China, full-time players serve their contracts with the sport's governing body in their registered provinces so they are provided with a consistent income. Part-time players must cover all costs by themselves without any compensation.

"The current situation of the sport in China is terrible," Yu said. "Twenty-three is the minimum number (of players) required for a national team. We cannot find any more good players to join in. There are only 8 professional and full-time players on the team."

Yu said the fourth place at the 1998 Winter Olympics was not the highest ranking the Chinese women have achieved, but it was their last good memory.

"We had a golden time from the late 80s to the early 90s, when there were almost 10 teams in both Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces," he said. "And our national team always made the top three in the international tournaments around 1995, including the World Championships."

The struggle of women's hockey in China was on full display at the ongoing China Winter Games.

Harbin, whose players make up the majority of the national team, won the women's ice hockey title on Friday in lopsided fashion.

Only four teams - Harbin, Vanguard, Jiamusi and host Qiqihar - participated in the women's hockey tournament and Harbin was the undisputed champion after three crushing wins: 16-0 over Jiamusi, 16-1 over Qiqihar and 6-0 over Vanguard.

"(Harbin's) gold shows that the Chinese women's ice hockey team seriously lacks any back-up force," Yu said.

A total of 18 national team players come from Harbin, with five from Jiamusi and two from Qiqihar. Most players of the Vanguard team are retired national team members.

"We might as well consider Harbin the national team," Yu said.

Former glory

The national team used to be the best in Asia but was stunned in consecutive losses to Japan and Kazakhstan for a third-place finish at last year's Asian Winter Games in China. It was the team's second straight setback in the Games dating back from the 2003 edition in Aomori, Japan.

"Ten years ago, we were unbeatable in Asia and we won by at least 10 goals in every match against Japan and the other teams," Yu said.

He is scared that one day there will not even be a national team to compete in major international tournaments.

"Some of the part-time players asked to leave the team in order to pursue better lives in the past four years and some of them are now 20 years old and hoping to go to university in July.

"We have made efforts to keep them, but if many of them leave in July, I am afraid the national team will not exist anymore."

But there is no time for Yu to think too far ahead - he has to first focus on the team's preparation for April's World Championships.

The women's ice hockey team finished sixth in the last World Championships, mostly thanks to a lucky draw.

The team is aiming to achieve the same result as the top six teams automatically qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

"We were quite lucky last time," Yu said. "But this time, our opponents in the group are Canada and Russia, both are very strong. It will be very difficult for us."