ALMATY, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan won the women’s ice hockey tournament at the 2011 Asian Winter Games that was held in Almaty, the country’s old capital. 3,700 spectators saw Kazakhstan defeat China 4-1 on Thursday to claim the gold.

Kazakhstan outshot China 33-26, but despite the even numbers, the victory was never in doubt even when the Chinese tried to stage a comeback in the last period, but goalkeeper Daria Obydennova stood tall in her net.

The Kazakhs gained a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from their top line. Zarina Tukhtieva scored a goal between Yelena Shtelmaister’s two markers.

The Chinese didn’t have much luck until Rui Ma scored the consolation goal with 122 seconds left in regulation time. Lyubov Ibragimova made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal.

“There’s no need to tell how happy we are to be champions and that we made our fans happy,” team captain Viktoria Sazanova said. “We gave all our emotions on the ice and we had a hard-fought, but well-deserved victory against China.”

The Chinese had to settle with bronze while Japan earned the silver medals after two tight games against China and Kazakhstan.

The Japanese were on the lucky side when defeating China 4-3 in overtime, but they lost the game against host Kazakhstan 3-2 in a shootout that prevented them from winning the tournament.

The Japanese held a 2-0 lead against Kazakhstan after two periods with goals from Yoko Kondo and Kanae Aoki, but the Kazakhs came back with two goals late in the third period. Larissa Svirdova scored on a power play at 52:47 and Tukhtieva tied things up with a shorthander less than three minutes later before scoring the only goal in the shootout.

The two teams from the Korean peninsula finished behind the three favourites. DPR Korea was fourth, celebrating its only win against their southern neighbours, 6-1.

The Asian Winter Games continue with the two men’s ice hockey tournaments in Astana.

In the Top Division the two favourites Kazakhstan and Japan are the only undefeated teams after three days and they will meet in the last game of the event on Sunday in what will likely become a true gold medal game.

Korea, China and Chinese Taipei are the other teams at the event.

Seven more teams play it out in the second tier, the Premier Division. Debutant Kyrgyzstan leads with a 5-0 record ahead of Thailand and the United Arab Emirates with just one loss so far, Mongolia, Malaysia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

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MARTIN MERK