Shenzhen is a city without real snow. Nevertheless, the city’s presence in winter sporting events cannot be underestimated.
Players of the Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star Club will debut at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 3 as the Chinese national women’s ice hockey team, one day before the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games officially opens.
The team will play against the Czech Republic in Group B at the Wukesong Sports Center in the first game of the 10-team women’s tournament, which will run through Feb. 17.
In the group stage, they are scheduled to play against Denmark on Feb. 4, Japan on Feb. 6 and Switzerland on Feb. 7.
The Chinese are currently No. 20 in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world rankings.
They receive an automatic entry into the Olympics as the host country.
Kunlun Red Star, formed in Longgang District in 2016, is China’s first professional hockey club, which is now headed by Brian Idalski, former head coach of the University of North Dakota women’s hockey team in the U.S.
The club boasts the Chinese national women’s hockey team training base, which has a 60-meter-long and 26-meter-wide Olympic-standard hockey rink, the only one of its kind in South China.
Meanwhile, six Shenzhen citizens, including a national luge athlete, an athletic assistant of the Chinese men’s hockey team and two technical officials for the Beijing Winter Olympics, will participant in the Games, Shenzhen Evening News reported.
Zhou Song, manager of Kunlun Red Star, will provide administrative and logistics support to the Chinese men’s hockey team.
Peng Junyue, born in 2000, is a rising star in the Chinese luge community. The former basketball player was selected by China’s National Winter Sports Administrative Center and started training on ice.
In 2019, he signed contracts with Shenzhen sports schools, officially representing the city in competitions. At the 2021-22 Luge World Cup, the Chinese host squad Peng is in made a thrilling debut and bagged two event tickets to the men’s double sled and team relay in the Olympics.