MOSCOW, Jan 24 The coaching staff of the Russian women's ice hockey team announced the list of players to participate in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, according to the official website of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation (FHR). It included the forward of the Moscow region Tornado Anna Shokhina, who was not included in the extended team of 34 players. Earlier Sunday, national team hockey player Alexandra Vafina announced that Shokhina had joined the team. Shokhina, who played for the Russian national team at the Olympic Games in 2014 and 2018, ranks first in the list of top scorers in the Women's Hockey League (WHL) this season (52 points in 22 games). In total, 23 hockey players entered the main team of the Russian team: goalkeepers: Diana Farkhutdinova (Dynamo Neva), Maria Sorokina (Agidel), Daria Gredzen (Biryusa); defenders: Angelina Goncharenko, Elena Provorova (both SKIF), Ekaterina Nikolaeva (Dynamo Neva), Maria Pechnikova , Anna Shibanova (both — «Agidel»), Nina Pirogova, Anna Savonina (both — «Tornado»); forwards: Lyudmila Belyakova, Elena Dergacheva, Shokhina (all — «Tornado»), Polina Bolgareva, Alexandra Vafina, Fanuza Kadirova ( all — «Dynamo-Neva»), Oksana Bratishcheva, Victoria Kulishova (both — SKIF), Ekaterina Dobrodeeva, Valeria Pavlova (both — «Biryusa»), Veronika Korzhakova, Ilona Markova, Olga Sosina (all — «Agidel»). Also three substitute players will go to Beijing: goalkeeper Valeria Merkusheva (SKIF), defender Liana Ganeeva (Dynamo Neva) and forwards and Polina Luchnikova («Agidel»). Women's hockey tournament at the Olympics will be held from 3 to 17 February. The Russians will play in Group A, their opponents will be the teams of Switzerland, Finland, Canada and the USA. Before the start of the Games, the Russian team will play control matches against the Czechs (January 29) and the Chinese (January 31).
