Sweden, the Czech Republic and Denmark women's ice hockey sides on their way to Beijing 2022

On the final day of the women's ice hockey Olympic qualification tournaments, which began Thursday (11 November), seven of the 12 teams were still in with a chance of claiming one of the three spots still available for Beijing 2022.

Dramatic matches were played out in all three groups on Sunday (14 November) with Group C playing in Chomutov, Czech Republic, Group D in Füssen, Germany and Group E in Lulea, Sweden.

To book their spots at next February's Games, the teams needed to top their groups in their respective tournaments. Awaiting the victors? The chance to compete in Group B of the two-group Olympic competition in Beijing, where they will join already-qualified Japan and People's Republic of China.

Group C: Czech Republic / Hungary / Norway / Poland

Czech Republic vs. Hungary

In a winner-takes-all match, the Czech Republic made it clear they weren't going to disappoint their homes fans, as they beat fellow Olympic hopefuls, Hungary, 5-1. Neither side had made an Olympic Winter Games in women's ice hockey before so it was a history-making opportunity for both sides. The hosts scored three times in the first period, however, and played out the final two periods comfortably.

“We have a little bit of breathing room now as a coaching staff and we have a tough job to do picking the team," said Czech head coach Tomas Pacina after the game. "Two of our best players aren’t here. We’ll get together in December and we’ll centralise on January 5th, two weeks before we fly to the Olympics.”

Norway vs. Poland

Mathea Fischer scored a goal in each period to make it a hat-trick for the Norwegian in a 7-1 win over Poland. The Scandinavian side would have been pleased to get back to winning ways after losing to Hungary in a see-sawing tie on Saturday (13 Nov), which ended 5-3. Poland, meanwhile, would have been keen to gain some more experience at this level having lost 16-0 to eventual Beijing Olympic qualifiers, the Czech Republic, also on Saturday.

Group D: Germany / Denmark / Austria / Italy

Germany vs. Denmark

The first team to qualify for Beijing 2022 from the day’s deciding matches was Denmark. The Danes drew with Germany 2-2 in regular time, which was enough for them to top Group D and, along with the men’s side, put them through to their nation’s first ever Olympic Winter Games appearance in ice hockey.

The Danes, who had come into the game unbeaten after defeating Italy 4-0 and Austria 1-0, showed great character in coming back from 2-0 down on their opponent’s home ice, silencing the partisan crowd. Germany needed various ramifications of results to go their way after a 3-0 loss to Austria in their opening game left them with an uphill struggle to qualify. Austria were also in with a chance if results went their way in their last game against Italy later in the day.

But the Danes just needed a point from their game against Germany to put Beijing qualification beyond doubt. A long-range shot from Malene Frandsen just before the end of the second period went straight past goalie Franzizska Albl before she even had time to react, making it 2-1. An innocuous bouncing shot wiggled into the net from defender Silke Glud to make it 2-2 in the third and, after holding out for the rest of the period, the Danes celebrated wildly at the final buzzer, knowing the score was enough for them to progress to Beijing.

Germany went on to win the game 3-2 after it went into extra time but by that stage winning was irrelevant for the despondent home side. Denmark, though, were bouncing.

Austria vs. Italy

Austria finished second in Group D after defeating Italy by a score of 6-1 on Sunday (14 November). The handsome win couldn't hide the disappointment of the team who just missed out on qualifying for Beijing 2022, despite beating the pre-tournament favourites, Germany, 3-0 in the first match on Thursday. The Austrians can feel hard done by not to go through after the only loss they suffered was a tightly contested match against eventual Olympic qualifiers Denmark, which they lost on Saturday, 1-0.

Group E: Sweden / France / Slovakia / Republic of Korea

Slovakia vs. Republic of Korea

Slovakia finished the Women’s Final Olympic Qualification Group E in third place after beating Republic of Korea 7-1. Both teams were winless heading into the match so it was more a matter of deciding third and fourth places.

Slovakia dominated the game against their young opponents, whose average age is 19. Early goals from Tatiana Korenkova and Lucak Cupkova – in the first 106 seconds – set the tone for the rest of the match but the result had some rewards for the Korean side. The final score was a lot less lopsided than its previous match against Sweden (15-0), and they also scored their first and only goal of the tournament, courtesy of Choi Jiyeon.

Sweden vs. France

In the final face-off of the day Sweden took on the unbeaten French side in another winner-takes-all match. This time it was the experienced Swedish team, who have played at every Olympic Winter Games since the women's game was admitted to the tournament in 1998, who went through. They beat the first-time Olympic hopefuls, 3-2, in a tense match. The experience of the Swedes, however, made the difference, and the Scandinavian side head to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, which start 4 February.

The qualified teams for Beijing 2022 in the women's ice hockey tournament are:

Group A: United States, Canada, Finland, ROC, Switzerland
Group B: People's Republic of China, Japan, Sweden, Denmark and the Czech Republic.