The Asian Winter Games, the largest Asian winter comprehensive sporting event,  is hosted by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) every four years. This year, the Asian Winter Games was hosted from the 19^th February to the 26^th February in Sapporo, Japan. Macao ice hockey team participated in this event. The Macao sports delegation was composed of 29 people, including the leader of the delegation Pun Weng Kun, the President of the Sports Bureau, Lo Keng Chio, the OCA Media Committee Chairman and the President of the Sports and Olympic Committee of Macao (SOCM), Chan Chak Mo, the Secretary General of SOCM, and the ice hockey team. The delegation attended events such as the Asian Winter Games welcome ceremony, flag ceremony, welcome party, opening ceremony and closing ceremony.

Macao Ice Hockey Team Completed Group Play with 2 Wins and 1 loss

     The icy hockey matches were categorised into three groups: Senior Group, First Group and Second Group. Macao competed in the Second Group, being in the same group with strong Asian teams from Turkmenistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In the first match, Macao lost to the Turkmenistan team which proved to be the strongest among all teams. However, the Macao team achieved surprising results while facing the elite teams from Indonesia and Malaysia, as the Macao team defeated them 6 to 2 and 9 to 4 respectively. The Macao ice hockey team completed group tournament with 2 wins and 1 loss, and was qualified to proceed having earned second place in the group. 

Defeated by the Philippines, Finishing in the 4^th Place

     In the final matches that decided the rankings, Macao faced a stronger opponent, the Philippines. Under the circumstance that one of the key players was injured, Macao was defeated 2 to 9, failing to become the 2^nd runner-up in the Second Group. Owing to the circumstances, Macao ice hockey team finished the match without a medal. Nevertheless, ranking the 4^th was enough to set a record of the best result in the team history. Kong Chong Man, vice captain, stated, “The overall performance was better than what was expected, and there were several matches in which we performed well. For that reason, we not only completed our mission, but also accomplished more than what had been expected.”

     Kong Chong Man and his team member Leong Chon Kong stated, “We competed in 5 matches. Before the matches, our goal was to make every effort to defeat the Malaysia team and the Indonesia team in order to proceed. Finally, we reached our goal and even ranked higher than that we had expected, and got the opportunity to fight for the third runner-up. Although, regretly, we did not win in the last match against the Philippines and we failed to win a medal, our overall performance did not let people down.” Leong Chon Kong also added, “The ice hockey team will focus on the next Asian Winter Games. We hope that the young players can accumulate experience in the other competitions, sothey will be capable of being our successors in future days.”