For the second-straight year, Japan proved dominant at the IIHF Women’s Asia Championship.

Once again, the Japanese did not allow a single goal against. After wrapping their schedule with a 4-0 win over China, they finished with an aggregate score of 17-0 to claim first place in the standings with a perfect 3-0-0-0 record for nine points.

With a regulation win over Kazakhstan and a shootout win over Korea, China finished second with five points. And in Saturday’s tournament finale, the host Kazakh team beat Korea 3-1 to claim third place in front of a crowd of 1,920 at the Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace in Oskemen.

The four-team tournament, in its second year, was developed with the goal of helping to develop hockey in Asia. The men’s edition, which features the same four nations, is up next. It will run from 20-23 November, 2025 in Beijing.

Viewers can access replays of the women’s tournament on demand on IIHF.tv. The men’s tournament will also be available live and on demand.

Here’s more on Saturday’s games.

Game 1: Japan 4 – China 0

Longtime Japaneze coach Yuji Iizuka showed that he has his squad ready for the 2026 Winter Olympics after they completed the week’s round robin in perfect fashion.

Japan outshot China 64-11 on Saturday, on the way to a 4-0 shutout win.

All four goals came at even strength. Once again, Japan pressed its advantage early, outshooting China 30-5 while also killing off two penalties in the first period. Chinese goaltender Guimin Lai was excellent, allowing just a single goal to Yumeka Wajima.

After Japan won an offensive-zone faceoff following an icing call, Wajima poked a goalmouth rebound past Lai with 6:17 remaining in the opening frame. Her second tally of the tournament would stand up as the winning goal.

Japan doubled its lead just nine seconds into the middle frame, with the second goal of the tournament for captain Rui Ukita. Rio Noro would add her second late in the second, and defender Aoi Shiga closed out the scoring with her first goal in the third.

Ukita was named Japan’s best player of the game, and Ke Li earned the honor for China.

Game 2: Kazakhstan 3 – Korea 1

The local fans on hand were treated to a home-ice win as Kazakhstan closed out the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Korea.

Last year, it took a shootout between the same two teams for Kazakhstan to claim third-place status. This time around, the hosts took an early lead and kept control throughout.

After dropping 6-0 decisions to both Japan and China, Kazakhstan’s first goal against Korea came just 52 seconds into the first period. Fans were still finding their seats when Alexander Tebenkov’s group executed a gorgeous rush play which ended with Malika Aldabergenova feeding Pernesh Asimova in the slot. She redirected the puck past Korean netminder Sewon Ahn, setting off big cheers from the crowd.

Less than two minutes later, Korea tied the game. The goaltender Ahn earned an assist as the last player to touch the puck before Jiyoon Park went end-to-end and beat Kazakh goaltender Arina Chshyokolova high to the stick side at 2:24.

Later in the first, with Korea’s Yuan Han serving a tripping penalty, Kazakhstan retook the lead when captain Anastassiya Orazbayeva found the puck in a net-front scramble and shoveled it past Ahn. Kazakhstan outshot Korea 11-9 in the first period.

In the second, the Koreans pushed back with a vengeance. They held a 17-4 edge in shots and the teams took one penalty each, but there was no further scoring.

The Kazakhs defended well in the third, killing two penalties and limiting Korea to six shots. With 2:09 remaining, coach Do-Yun Kim pulled Ahn for the extra attacker. Sofiya Zubkova hit the empty net with 11 seconds remaining to seal the win for Kazakhstan.

With the game-winning goal, Orazbayeva was named Kazakhstan’s best player in the game. Enuji Lee got the nod for Korea.

Scoring Leaders

Japan’s Haruka Toko finished as the tournament’s leading scorer, with two goals and four assists in three games. Her teammate Riri Noro led the event with three goals.

The China team was led by Qinan Zhao with one goal and three assists. Jiyoon Park was Korean’s top scorer with one goal and one assist. Five Kazakh players each finished with one point.

In net, both of Japan’s goaltenders finished with perfect save percentages. Misuu Masuhara earned two wins and faced 25 shots, while Kiku Kobayashi logged one win off seven shots faced.

Guimin Lai also finished with one shutout to go along with her 94.83 save percentage. She played all three games for China, allowing six goals on 116 shots. With two complete games and one period of relief duty, Korea’s Sewon Ahn allowed five goals on 87 shots for a save percentage of 94.25.

Final 2026 Standings
Japan: 3-0-0-0  9 pts
China: 1-1-0-1  5 pts
Kazakhstan: 1-0-0-2  3 pts
Korea: 0-0-1-2  1 pt

For more stats tournament information, visit IIHF.com.