Final round of Olympic women’s hockey qualification is set

<em>Poland, Italy, and Korea advance to the next stage of Olympic qualifiers</em>

The first Olympic qualifiers wrapped up this weekend and we have our three winners out of groups F, G, and H: Korea, Italy, and Poland.

All three teams will advance to the final round of Olympic qualifications, to be held next month from Nov. 11-14. Poland joins Group C in Chomutov, Czechia; Italy joins Group D in Füssen, Germany; and Korea joins Group E in Luleå, Sweden. That final round of qualifiers will decide the official Olympic field for Beijing 2022, with each group winner advancing to one of three open spots remaining.

Here’s a quick recap of the first qualifying tournament and how each team advanced.

Group F

Oct. 7

Korea 3, Slovenia 0
Great Britain 5, Iceland 0

Oct. 8

Korea 10, Iceland 0
Slovenia 2, Great Britain 1

Oct. 10

Slovenia 6, Iceland 2
Great Britain 1, Korea 0

Although Great Britain defeated Korea in the final game of the tournament, three teams ended up tied with six points in the standings. Great Britain needed to defeat Korea by at least two goals in order to win the tiebreaker, but the Koreans held them to just one and advanced to the next round.

IIHF Recap

Final Standings

  1. Korea
  2. Great Britain
  3. Slovenia
  4. Iceland

Group G

Oct. 7

Kazakhstan 7, Taipei 1
Italy 4, Spain 1

Oct. 9

Spain 3, Kazakhstan 2 (SO)
Italy 7, Taipei 0

Oct. 10

Spain 4, Taipei 0
Italy 2, Kazakhstan 1

After two wins, Italy sat atop the Group G standings with six points going into the final game. With 4 points, Kazakhstan had a chance to knock off the Italians, but they would have needed a regulation win to do it. Instead, Italy overcame a 1-0 deficit in the third period thanks to goals from Franziska Stocker and Anna Caumo.

IIHF Recap

Final Standings

  1. Italy
  2. Spain
  3. Kazakhstan
  4. Taipei

Group H

Oct. 7

Poland 12, Turkey 0
Netherlands 7, Mexico 1

Oct. 8

Netherlands 23, Turkey 0
Poland 8, Mexico 1

Oct. 10

Poland 3, Netherlands 2
Mexico 6, Turkey 1

Poland and the Netherlands faced off on the final day of the tournament each with six points in hand. The Dutch held a 2-0 lead until late in the third period, but Poland cut the lead in half with about seven minutes left. They scored again to tie it with less than five minutes left in the game, and Ewelina Czarnecka notched the game-winner less than two minutes later.

IIHF Recap

Final Standings

  1. Poland
  2. Netherlands
  3. Mexico
  4. Turkey

Here are the full groups that will be competing in November for the final Olympic spots:

Group C

  • Czech Republic
  • Hungary
  • Norway
  • Poland/

Group D

  • Germany
  • Denmark
  • Austria
  • Italy/

Group E

  • Sweden
  • France
  • Slovakia
  • Korea/