China will take part in the men's ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics in Beijing despite initial concerns that the team would be embarrassed on home ice against NHL-level competition.
The International Ice Hockey Federation confirmed China's participation, avoiding what would have been an unprecedented removal of a host country's team for performance reasons.
The federation spent the past weeks reviewing players' eligibility to represent China.
Players making up the Chinese national team recently played two test games against Russian opponents with international officials watching closely. The team, playing as Kontinental Hockey League club Kunlun Red Star, lost 4-1 to Avangard Omsk and 5-4 in overtime to Amur Khabarovsk, getting outshot 77-43 in the two games combined.
Kunlun coach Ivano Zanatta said the games were evidence his team meets Olympic standards. He added that the players "proved they have the character and the ability and they have the right to participate in their own Olympics.''
The IIHF agreed, even though Kunlun have lost 29 of 36 KHL games this season and China are ranked 32nd in the world.
The hope is that an influx of international players allows China to not get blown out in group play games against the United States, Canada and Germany.
Leading scorers Spencer Foo and Brandon Yip and top defenseman Ryan Sproul are Canadian, and starting goaltender Jeremy Smith is American, though there is still some uncertainty about who will be eligible to play in Beijing.
After being awarded the 2022 Olympics in 2015, China hired big-name coaches from overseas and invested in a youth academy with the aim of developing a homegrown team in time. That failed, but China will still get to play on home ice in February.
Spencer Foo
