After the successful start of the World Cup on Monday with a 4-0 victory over Great Britain, Austria’s U18 women’s national team suffered its first defeat at the 2026 IIHF Women’s U18 World Cup, Division IB. China, which beat Poland 4-3 after a penalty shootout the day before, defeated Austria 4-2 thanks to a double strike in the final third.
This is a first setback for the Ascension mission. China led 1-0 after the first period and increased it to 2-0 in the 26th minute. Vanessa Picka and Florentina Rumpl brought Austria back into the game in the middle period before China forced the decision with a double strike within two minutes at the start of the third period. On both goals, Austria found itself outnumbered.
Head Coach Arto Sieppi: “We had a good start to the game, controlled the puck in the first six minutes or so. We had chances to make it 1-0, but then China managed that. After the 2-2 score after 40 minutes, we had a bad start in the final third. We had significantly more chances than China and especially some high-quality ones, but their goalkeeper had a good day today. We have to accept the result. The tournament is not over yet.”
After a day of rest, Austria will face Australia on Thursday.
2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship Division IB
- January 2026 – January 11, 2026, Katowice (POL)
Participant: Austria, Poland, Spain, China, Australia, Great Britain
Event website
Austria vs. China 2:4 (0:1, 2:1, 0:2)
Tue, January 6, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Katowice
Goal scorers Austria: Vanessa Picka (38th), Florentina Rumpl (39th)
Goal scorers China: Yufei Xin (14th), Keyu Chen (26th), Mi Dai (42nd), Yifan Wang (44th)
Game summary
Austria vs. Australia
Thursday, January 8, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Katowice
Spain vs. Austria
Sat., January 10, 2026, 8:00 p.m., Katowice
Austria vs. Poland
Sun., January 11, 2026, 8:00 p.m., Katowice
Already played
Great Britain vs. Austria 0:4 (0:0, 0:2, 0:2)
Monday, January 5, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Katowice
Goal scorers Austriah: Florentina Rumpl (21st, 45th), Emma Lintner (32nd/PP, 59th)
Game summary
www.eishockey.at, Pic: FreitagsFotos / Manuel Freitag
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