Sunday November 14, 2021
Failed to qualify for the Olympics
DEB team wins and weeps with disappointment
Qualification for the Olympic Games depends not only on participation in the major event, but also on financial support. That is why it is doubly bitter for German ice hockey women to fail. Because they were in the lead and because the consequences could be so severe.
When the national anthem rang out, tears came to the eyes of the German ice hockey women. They won the last game, but lost their ticket to the Olympics. “It really hurts”, said captain Julia Zorn after the 3: 2 (0: 0, 2: 1, 0: 1, 1: 0) after penalty shootout against Denmark at MagentaSport: “Somewhere we are out of luck.”
The victory was not enough, the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) would only have had a chance if it had been successful after regular time. After goals from Tanja Eisenschmid (31st) and Lilli Welcke (35th), she led 2-0 in the second third, but gave up the lead. “The exploitation of opportunities has become our undoing,” said Zorn. Malene Frandsen (40th) and Silke Glud (48th) equalized for the Danes, who qualified for the Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th, 2022).
Zorn’s penalty decided the game, but nobody could be happy. In the end there was the German anthem for the winner for the second time, but the only game in which it was not heard was decisive: The 3-0 opening defeat against Austria last Thursday made the difference. On Saturday the DEB selection had won 4-1 against Italy.
“Don’t think the association will drop us”
“We are bitterly disappointed, everyone wanted to go to Beijing,” said national coach Thomas Schädler: “Now we have to see that we can bring women’s ice hockey forward.” Four years ago, the DEB selection missed the qualification for the games in Pyeongchang. Without the Olympics, there is a risk of cuts in funding and armed forces positions for the players. There are currently 16 national players in the Bundeswehr’s sports promotion group, and they can train like professionals.
“We older players wanted to leave a good stand for everyone who came after us,” said 31-year-old Zorn, who took part in the 2014 Games in Sochi. Ice hockey has no future. ” The fact that both men and women of the DEB were present at the Olympics last happened in Turin in 2006. “All the girls who come after us should also have the chance to advance the sport,” said Zorn.
DEB sports director Christian Künast announced in terms of funding and Bundeswehr posts: “In both cases, the talks will take place in May 2022. We are still eighth in the world rankings. That is not so bad. We deserve it, even if they did not qualify , goes on. ”