Asian Winter Games: Hong Kong end turbulent 36 hours with defeat, but quarter-finals await
The men’s team lost 6-5 in overtime to Kyrgyzstan in the ranking round, but the last eight already represents an improvement on previous Games
Hong Kong’s men turned their attention to the ice hockey quarter-finals at the Asian Winter Games on Monday after an unpleasant 36 hours focused elsewhere, while Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met local officials and said the city could learn a lot about sport and tourism from the event’s hosts.
With most of the day involving the fallout from the ugly scenes at the end of Sunday’s Group C clash with Turkmenistan, head coach Carey Durant and his Hong Kong team were just glad to get back on the ice and concentrate on playing against Kyrgyzstan in the ranking round for the last eight.
The late night 6-5 loss in overtime is not how they would have chosen to have ended things, but there was plenty to please Durant in the performance.
Hours earlier, Hong Kong officials said the International Ice Hockey Federation had taken the decision to suspend four Turkmen players for the rest of the Games, the IIHF did not respond to request for comment, but Chinese state media eventually identified Arslan Geldimyradov, Arslan Nuryyev, Begench Dovletmyradov and Novruz Bayhanov as those punished.
Ho Kit-fung, the head of the Hong Kong delegation at the Games, said he had been “deeply shocked and heartbroken” by the attack on Hong Kong’s players, and “strongly condemned this violent act”.
Lee, meanwhile, had a busy day overall, first visiting the athletes’ village to “express the support of the Hong Kong people to the ice hockey team”, and then holding separate meetings with Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee Secretary Xu Qin and Governor Liang Huiling.