Buffalo 2025 Team Preview: Get to know China

Fourth place in their first two participations in the World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool, the Chinese team will be aiming for their first podium finish this month in the USA 19 May 2025

A Chinese Para ice hockey player in front of a Czech player

China finished fourth in Calgary last year following a defeat to Czechia in the bronze medal game

ⒸErica Perreaux / Hockey Canada Images / WPIH

By Stuart Lieberman I For World Para Ice Hockey

The 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool will take place from 24-31 May in Buffalo, United States. Hosted in conjunction with USA Hockey at LECOM Harborcenter, the tournament will feature three days of group play followed by three days of playoff contests. The top five finishers from the event will earn qualification spots for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. The bottom three finishers will be forced to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games Qualification Tournament that will take place later in 2025.

Time to take a close look at the Chinese national team.

Background

While China won a bronze medal on its home ice at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, it is still in search of its first podium at the World Championships A-Pool. China finished fourth each of the last two seasons, including after a tight one-goal loss to Czechia in the bronze-medal contest last year. Thirteen different players on China’s roster tallied points at last year’s World Championships, displaying the true depth the programme has, and showcasing that it can be anyone’s moment to shine on any given day.

World Championships History

2024: 4th place (A-Pool)
2023: 4th place (A-Pool)
2021: Gold (B-Pool)
2019: Silver (B-Pool)

🏒🇨🇳 @Paralympics President Andrew Parsons met China's Para ice hockey team in Beijing as they gear up for the #Buffalo2025 World Championships A-Pool!

📍More on the competition: https://t.co/WYoLpIO41D

@ CASPD #ParaIceHockey pic.twitter.com/QUVhms3hqL
— Para Ice Hockey (@paraicehockey) April 25, 2025

Athlete to Watch

Forward Yifeng Shen is no longer considered a new name in the sport — in fact, he’s a skating threat goaltenders fear contending with. He led China at each of the last two World Championships with a combined 16 goals and seven assists between the two events. He was also China’s best player at the Beijing 2022 Games with eight goals and six assists.

Matchup to Watch

When China meets Canada on Tuesday, 27 May, it will be the first time the two meet in group play at a World Para Ice Hockey event. The two teams have been at the last Winter Paralympics and last two World Championships together, but each time have been in different groups and only faced one another once in the playoffs – when Canada came from behind to beat China 2-1 at one of last year’s semifinals in Calgary. This has the chance to turn into the closest, most highly anticipated matchup of all 12 games in the preliminary round in Buffalo.