The joint Korean women's ice hockey team will move into athletes' residences for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics ahead of schedule, the sport's South Korean governing body said Tuesday.
The unified team, coached by South Korea bench boss Sarah Murray, is set to take on Sweden in its only pre-Olympics tuneup match at 6 p.m. Sunday in Incheon, just west of Seoul. The 35 players had initially been scheduled to enter Gangneung Olympic Village, one of two athletes' living quarters for the Olympics, the following day.
Instead, the Korea Ice Hockey Association said the team will travel to Gangneung, about 230 kilometers east of Seoul, right after the game against Sweden.
"After the game and interviews with coaches and players, the team is expected to arrive in Gangneung around 1 or 2 a.m. Monday," a KIHA official said.
Gangneung Olympic Village will house all athletes competing in ice events during the Feb. 9-25 Olympics. The KIHA official said it hasn't been determined if the joint team, which is comprised of 23 South Koreans and 12 North Koreans, will stay together or separately at the village.
In this photo provided by the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee, players on the South-North Korean women`s joint hockey team hold their first practice together at Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 28, 2018. (Yonhap)
"The team officials say they'd like to keep the players together to help them bond," the official added. "But it requires approval from the two governments and the International Olympic Committee. We're still discussing the issue."
The Koreas agreed to a joint team on Jan. 17, and the IOC gave its stamp of approval three days later. The North Korean players, joined by their own coach Pak Chol-ho and two support staff members, arrived in South Korea last Thursday.
In addition to assembling the joint hockey team, the Koreas had also agreed to stage cultural events ahead of PyeongChang 2018, the first Winter Olympics to take place in South Korea, but the North abruptly called off a joint cultural event set to take place in Mount Kumgang, north of the border. The KIHA official said the North's move hasn't had any negative influence on the hockey team.
Murray has been running join practices since Sunday. While the Korean team has an expanded roster of 35 athletes -- other teams have 23 -- actual game day rosters remain unchanged at 22 players, 20 skaters and two goaltenders.
South Korea is ranked No. 22, three spots above North Korea. The joint team is in Group B.
Its first game is against world No. 6 Switzerland at 9:10 p.m. on Feb. 10, with fifth-ranked Sweden up next at 9:10 p.m. on Feb. 12. The final group match is against ninth-ranked Japan at 4:40 p.m. on Feb. 14. All the games will be played at the Kwandong Hockey Centre in Gangneung.
The Koreas have had joint teams at world championships for table tennis and youth football but never at the Olympics. (Yonhap)
