Marina and Vanessa, students from Form 3 Bombax and Form 4 Cassia respectively, giving an update on the recent 9th Asian Winter Games. They particularly mentioned the ice hockey match between Hong Kong and Turkmenistan where postgame handshakes turned violent. They shared their views and provided a critical analysis of this accident.
Written by Marina Yip (Form 3) & Vanessa Lam (Form 4)
Maria: Good morning teachers and students. I am Maria from Form 3 Bauhinia.
Vanessa: And I am Vanessa from Form 4 Cassia.
Marina: Vanessa，你知不知道最近在哈爾濱市有甚麼盛事嗎？
Vanessa: Of course! It’s the 9th Asian Winter Games. It is a continental winter multi-sport event taking place from 7 to 14 February 2025! The motto is “Dream of Winter, Love Among Asia” (冰雪同梦，亚洲同心). Marina, I have another question for you: do you know how many events there are?
Marina: 你考不到我的！ 這次共有11個項目，包括速度滑冰、短道速度滑冰、花式滑冰、冰球、冰壺、高山滑雪、越野滑雪、自由式滑雪、單板滑雪、冬季兩項和滑雪登山。而混合雙打冰壺、滑雪登山、自由式滑雪空中技巧雙人賽更是首次亮相亞冬會。
Vanessa: Smart! Speaking of it, did you know the news about the ice hockey match between Hong Kong and Turkmenistan? It was terrible!
Marina: 是啊，我也有聽聞過！香港男子冰球隊星期日在亞冬運以5比1擊敗土庫曼後，賽後雙方球員於握手時發生激烈衝突，其中土庫曼球員持球棍毆打港隊球員，事件擾攘約1分鐘，當時裁判已對涉事球員作出處罰。這個暴力的行為真是令我感到十分震驚！
Vanessa: During the postgame handshakes, several Turkmenistan players attacked members of the Hong Kong, China team, causing them to fall to the ground and lose their helmets.This is unacceptable. It’s a deliberate attack and harm! It’s shocking to see something like that happen in a professional setting.
Marina: 是的！ 這實在是太不符合體育精神了！ 幸好國際冰球總會就「土庫曼運動員蓄意襲擊港隊，導致港隊運動員受傷的事件作出裁決，四名土庫曼運動員被即時停賽，將不能參與亞冬運其餘賽事。」體育精神應該是「公平競爭，尊重對手」。
Vanessa: Definitely! Regardless of the match result, athletes should never be subjected to violence, and this is not something a civilized society would approve of.
Marina: 身在當地的行政長官李家超高度關注事件，特別更改行程，於星期一中午（2月10日）與文體旅局局長羅淑佩等前往運動員村，探望三位受傷運動員。他讚揚港隊球員在事件中保持冷靜克制，展現專業質素和體育道德。
Vanessa: So true, our Hong Kong players were calm and restrained during the incident, upholding the spirit of sportsmanship, and demonstrating the professionalism and ethics of Hong Kong athletes.
Marina: 李家超行政長官也鼓勵港隊成員保持最好的心理狀況，以不受任何事情影響的專業態度作賽，並向冰球隊表達香港市民對他們的支持，鼓勵隊員繼續保持士氣，應對接下來的賽事。
Vanessa: That’s very encouraging. We do hope the athletes can maintain their best possible mental state, and compete with a professional attitude unaffected by any circumstances. Let’s hope that similar incidents will not happen in the near future again.
Marina: 我同意。我們要防止這種事情再次發生。也許我們需要更嚴格的規則、更好的裁判培訓，甚至為運動員提供心理支持，以幫助他們應對壓力和挫折。這次事件可以成為亞洲冬季運動會提高標準的一個警鐘。
Vanessa: That’s a great point. It’s also worth considering how this reflects on the spirit of the games. The Asian Winter Games are supposed to bring people together, not create division. This kind of incident could damage the reputation of the event and discourage future participation.
Marina: 沒錯。但如果他們處理得當——通過採取強有力的行動並實施更好的保障措施——這實際上可能變成一個積極的轉機。這是一個展示他們對公平、安全和體育尊重的承諾的機會。
Vanessa: Absolutely. The games have so much potential to inspire and unite people—it would be a shame to let one incident ruin that.
Marina: 說得好。希望接下來的比賽是關於運動員的成就，而不是再有暴力事件發生。This is our sharing today, thank you.