Asia Cup 2025: How China is preparing to become a hockey superpower with its sights set on Olympic glory 

After defeating defending champion South Korea 3-0 in the Super 4s stage of the Asia Cup 2025 with only 14 outfield players available in a rain-soaked evening in Rajgir, China’s captain Chongcong Chen entered the mixed zone radiating satisfaction.

For a moment, a language barrier held him captive; the 25-year-old juggled broken English keywords to field questions via Google Translate before his team translator arrived. But when asked about China’s future goal in the sport, Chen delivered an answer that transcended all linguistic obstacles, a single, decisive phrase that cut through the noise: “Olympic medal.”

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Historically, China has an ancient connection to hockey. The Daur people of the Inner Mongolia region have played a game called “beikou” for over a thousand years. This sport, which uses a clump of apricot root instead of a ball and meter-long wooden branches for sticks, shares the core characteristics of modern hockey.

Despite this long history, hockey has never been a major sport in China. While the country has built a strong sporting ecosystem to compete globally, its men’s hockey team has never achieved the same success as its women’s team, which won Olympic medals in 2008 and 2014. The team has also only made one Olympic appearance, that too as the host nation in 2008, where it finished 11th.

Preparing for glory

Now, with a world ranking of 23 — its highest in years — the Chinese men’s team is setting its sights on becoming a global hockey powerhouse. With a coaching staff that includes top-tier tacticians like the Dutchmen Michel van den Heuvel and Roelant Oltmans, alongside Australia’s Anthony Farry leading the way, this is no longer just a dream but a calculated ambition.

“We are very much at the beginning of a process. We have several new players alongside some experienced players. They are talented, and they are determined to show the world that China can be good in men’s hockey as well. The women have already shown it. The aim is that men will be at this level and set their sights on either 2028 or 2032 Olympics,” explained Oltmans, who led the Netherlands to a gold medal at the Olympics in 1996.

Having earned a silver medal at the 2024 Asian Champions Trophy, China arrived at the 2025 Asia Cup ready to make a statement. The team boasts the largest coaching staff of all eight competitors, and its performance in Rajgir justifies it. China has played with a strong defensive focus, a departure from the offensive-minded, flair-based style typically seen in Asian hockey.

China’s defensive prowess was on display in its first match of the tournament against India, where Craig Fulton’s men failed to score a single field goal and only managed to scrape to a 4-3 win, with all goals coming from set pieces.

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“One of our main focus points is to make sure we’re defensively sound and then controlling position. Lots of principles were instilled in the players to get the defensive staff right, and then understanding what we’re trying to do with the ball as well. Those things are a big part of what we want to do,” explained Farry, who started working with the squad four weeks before its arrival in Rajgir. 

China is building a strong senior team while also focusing on the future. Like more advanced hockey nations, it is developing several age-group squads. This shift is already visible in the current team, which has an average age of 25.8 — down from 28.3 for the squad that won silver at the ACT last year.

“I see potential in this group, as you’ve seen during this tournament. You know, they can grow, and now it’s about fine-tuning some different aspects and getting better with time,” declared Van den Heuvel, who has been termed the head coach by the other two coaches.

Hub of China’s hockey revolution

Thanks to the ancient tradition, the Daur people had a natural affinity for hockey when the modern game arrived in the early 1970s. This led to Inner Mongolia becoming a rich talent pool for China’s national squad. In fact, for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one-third of the Chinese team was from Morin Dawa, earning the city the deserved reputation as China’s “hometown of field hockey”.

To this day, the region continues to supply the national team with players and provides a remote training venue where they can focus on their game with minimal distractions.

Seven of the 18 players on the current team are from Inner Mongolia. The team’s main training base is located at Moqi, a facility in Hulunbuir City that hosted the 2024 Asian Champions Trophy. To prepare for the continental event, the team played a few games and then went to Beijing for more training.

The Chinese players have been showcasing a striking level of physicality in the tournament. Their fitness is truly on another level, marked by their tireless running, powerful builds, and incredible strength.

“The players are extremely hardworking. Modern hockey requires an incredible level of physical fitness. There was a big emphasis on making sure physically we were in the right condition. We, along with the Chinese coaches, are working on several aspects of their physical prowess, as well as tactical and technical sides,” explained Farry, who coached the Canadian men’s team to Olympic qualification in 2016.

Chasing a global goal, one continental step at a time

Although the dream is to make a mark on the global platform, to reach the world stage, a team must first succeed at the continental level. China’s men’s hockey team has struggled to do so, with its accolades being an Asian Games silver, an Asian Champions Trophy silver, and two Asia Cup bronze medals.

With a trip to the World Cup on the line, the ongoing Asia Cup is especially significant for China, which previously qualified in 2018 and finished in 10th place.

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“We know that’s at stake in this tournament. But it makes no difference in our approach as our mindset is very clear — to give our absolute best in every match, stay focused on our strategies, and strive for excellence with consistency. If we remain committed to that approach, the results will take care of themselves,” Chen told via team translator Jiachuan Xue.

For the man tasked with changing the outlook of China’s men’s hockey team and turning it into a superpower, it’s all about keeping things realistic, being present, and working toward a bigger goal.

“We have to start growing, and in the end, we can try to go for LA28, but that’s a long road. But you have to be realistic. In the short term, at the Asian Games, I don’t think it’s [winning] possible, but you never know in sport. In the longer term, a couple of years working with a good staff, I don’t think it is impossible,” concluded Van den Heuvel.

Published on Sep 05, 2025