TEHRAN - Azam Sanaei, captain of Iran national women’s ice hockey team, says that the Iranian girls need more support to shine in the international competitions.

Iran finished runners-up at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s Asia and Oceania Championships. The team lost to defending champions Thailand 3-1 in the final match of the tournament.

“The players did their utmost in the games and proved their qualities,” said Sanaei in his exclusive interview with the Tehran Times.

Sanaei is at the same time the assistant coach and the captain of the national women’s team.

“It’s only three years that we have trained in a standard-sized ice rink in Iran. We held training camps and with hard-working we could reach this level of Asian ice hockey. The girls performed strongly during the tournament and proved they have huge potential to shine in future international tournaments,” she added.

Speaking about the quality of the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s Asia and Oceania Championship, Sanaei said: “The level of the tournament was so high. It became more difficult game by game. As the defending champions, Thailand were obviously our strongest opponents,” Sanaei said.

Team Melli defeated India 17-1, Kuwait 20-0, Kyrgyzstan 26-0, the UAE 14-0, and Singapore 3-0 in the competition before reaching the final.

“The game against Singapore was also hard for us. They had an organized team,” she added.

Iran women’s team were not supported in the best way before the tournament. They went to Thailand without financial support from the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee, and the team members paid for their flight tickets.

However, it is reported that Hamid Sajadi, Iran’s Minister of Sports and Youth, has ordered that the expenses of the national women's ice hockey team will be paid, and the national players will also be awarded.

“We focus on achieving success instead of thinking about the problems. Fortunately, the financial problems were resolved by the order of the Minister of Sports. We expect that these financial supports will continue in the future so that Iranian girls can show their abilities in upcoming international competitions,” Sanaei concluded.