2024 Guangzhou Ice Hockey Tournament
Guangzhou, China
(January 28-31, 2024)
We came to the tournament with categories U6, U8 and U10. I’ll start with the oldest. The U10 category played a solid tournament, except for one game where they seemed to lack energy. The rest of the tournament, however, the players showed what we are used to and finished second. The U8 category played a very good tournament, where they managed to equalize twice against strong opponents at the end of the period, both times without a goalkeeper. Penalty shoots therefore decided. I think we confused the organizers of the tournament, because due to the just-mentioned penalty shoots, the entire program was moved by an hour. We came out victorious in one of them and once with a loss in the 16 series. The fight for third place was intense, but the players managed to master the game brilliantly, and therefore we finished third with a bronze medal.
The smallest category, U6, flew into the tournament exactly as its name, Typhoons, immediately won the first match with a high score. Next morning we were not enough to win this year’s tournament champs, but we continued on. Another victory catapulted us into the fight for third place, where we succeeded and the boys and girls also take home a medal.
We evaluate the tournament positively, all players got space. For the older categories, it would be nice if we could have more of them in select training sessions, so that we could practice the concept of team play, which we sometimes lacked.
By Coach Petr
In the Guangzhou tournament, we were represented by two teams in the U13 category. Team Blue, which was preparing for the Quebec Peewee tournament, and Team White, which consisted of U13 Selects players along with a few U11 Selects players competing a division higher.
The U13 division was a mix of two local Guangzhou teams, one Shenzhen team, and our two HK Selects teams. Our Blue team showcased an impressive performance, going undefeated with a 4-0 record and clinching the gold medals. Their ability to work as a cohesive unit throughout the tournament was truly promising.
Our White team had a 2-2 record, winning two games and suffering a narrow 0-1 loss to the Shenzhen team. This performance earned them bronze medals. The White team displayed a commendable ‘never give up’ spirit, especially in challenging moments. Both teams had a great showing, making the tournament a success!
The final standings were as follows:
1. HK Selects Blue
2. Shenzhen
3. HK Selects White
3. Guangzhou
4. Guangzhou
By Coach Matti
