China get past Latvia in Women's Ice Hockey World Championship

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At the ongoing 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship, hosts China registered a 3-0 victory over Latvia in Division 1, Group B tournament, in Beijing.

The Chinese side was dominant in the game and tallied a whopping 61 shots for their first win over Latvia in four years.

Earlier, an opening ceremony was held in the arena at Shougang Industrial Heritage Park in the Shijingshan District of the Chinese capital. The venue will also host hockey at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Once the match began, China took the lead on a powerplay in the first period when Lu Shuang scored on a one-timer.

China vs. Latvia in IIHF Women's Ice hockey World Championship Division 1, Group B, Beijing, April 6, 2019. /VCG Photo

The 22-year-old forward then doubled the lead three minutes into the third period when her centering pass bounced in off goalie Kristiana Apsite.

Latvia called a time-out midway through the period.

They pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, but Fang Xin scored again for China to clinch a flawless win for the home team.

Chinese forward Lu Shuang said after the match, "I'm happy because we haven't beaten Latvia for many years. Today we played very hard and we had more chances to score, and we got a great result."

Meanwhile, Latvian coach Miks Golubovics mentioned, "China did really well on the offense as they have got some skilled players. But I think our defense was able to clear a few attacks out of the net."

There were two other games played on the day as the Netherlands beat South Korea 5-2, while Poland outscored Kazakhstan 5-3.

The tournament applies a single cycle system and the champion team will be promoted to Division 1, Group A.