The Czech women hockey players managed to qualify for the Winter Olympics for the first time in history. Quite understandably, immediately after the win over Hungary, they jumped on goalkeeper Klára Peslarová and when they listened to the national anthem on the ice in Chomutov, tears of emotion appeared in the eyes of many of them.
It was a dream come true for the Czech hockey players. In the fight for qualification for the February Olympic Games in Beijing, the national team managed to outplay and defeat Hungary 5:1 in Chomutov on Sunday. When the captain, Alena Mills, received the symbolic ticket to China, the Czech party continued on the ice.
After 84 seconds, Hymlárová finished with a quick pass from Tejralová. Serdar quickly scored a second goal for the Czechs, and 100 seconds later, Vendula Přibylová adjusted the score to 3:0. The national team was holding the qualification tickets in their hands after an excellent start. In the 28th minute, the collaboration of Neubauer and Mlýnková was finished by Kolowratová in an overlap. The Czechs efficiently guarded the safe lead and, in the 56th minute, Křížová increased the score to 5:0. Only 121 seconds before the end of the game, the outstanding goalkeeper Peslarová lost her clean sheet when Huszáková scored the honorable goal for the Hungarians.
“All the girls are very happy, they believed we had the strength to achieve this and played amazing,” said coach Tomáš Pacina. “It was just about following the plan. We knew what to play, we went for it and followed our tactics and game philosophy, “commented Přibylová, scorer of the third goal.
The Olympic Games will be held in China (Beijing) from February 4 to February 20, 2020, with the Czech Republic competing in Group B alongside Japan, Denmark, Sweden, and the hosts. The women’s and men’s teams from the same team sport will be playing for the first time in the tournament since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where both handball teams played.