Ice hockey team of Macao shows passion for sport

The men's ice hockey team of Macao, China, ended up almost as a punching bag at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, conceding 56 goals across four games, to finish last but one.

However, the all-amateur team, composed of firefighters, office workers and high school students, came back against all the odds by snatching a memorable 4-3 overtime victory, its first and only at the event, over fellow minnows Bahrain in a classification match on Monday to eventually sign off its Asiad debut in 13th place in the 14-team tournament, only above the winless Gulf nation.

It was not quite a result that anyone would brag about, but this respectable effort should've left everyone on the Macao team — from its longest-serving forward, 52-year-old Un Kin-fai, to its youngest skater, 15-year-old Li Chon-hei — proud of having achieved what they set out to do.

"Not everyone in the tournament is here to compete for the medals," said the team's head coach Ho Chon-nin after its 2-4 loss to India in its final round-robin game in Group C on Sunday at the Harbin Ice Hockey Arena.

"We are here to gain as much experience as possible on the international stage, get some quality exercise and show our spirit. I think we should be happy as long as we do these things," Ho said.

They did this on Feb 3 against eventual group winner Hong Kong, China, by putting up a brave fight against a much higher-ranked squad and scoring the team's first goal at the Winter Asiad in the round-robin match, despite losing 26-1.

The hockey tournaments kicked off four days before the Games' opening ceremony on Friday, due to the lengthy competition schedule.

"We learned a lot (from the match) and we made the fans at the arena cheer for us with the goal. It felt so inspiring," said Argus Hong, who scored that first goal and celebrated his 18th birthday on Monday.

The team enjoyed rousing cheers from a full house at the 5,500-seat arena, which has four Olympic-sized 1,800-square-meter rinks, after having to train at a smaller rented rink in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, for over a year.

The only ice rink in the Macao Special Administrative Region, which was one-third the size of a standard Olympic rink, was closed at the end of 2023 for renovation, forcing ice hockey enthusiasts, along with some speed skaters and figure skaters, to find a temporary training facility in neighboring Zhuhai.

However, that rink, where coach Ho and his players practiced three times a week at night after work and school, was smaller than the standard size if they wished to truly make the moves required of them during the Harbin Asian Winter Games.

As a result, the Macao Ice Sports Federation offered timely help by funding the team to train at a standard Olympic rink in Shenzhen, Guangdong, for a weeklong camp before the Winter Asiad.

After twice relocating their training base and overcoming challenges in logistics, the team arrived in Harbin on schedule and in high spirits.

"We never had the opportunity to play on a full-size rink for the past year until we were offered the chance to practice at the rink in Shenzhen. We cherished the opportunity very much and we tried to make the best out of it," team captain Leong Chon-kong told China Central Television before the Games.

"We don't have a rink now at home, but the effort we made (to prepare for the Games) and the passion we have for the sport are as much as any other team," said Leong, a full-time firefighter.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn