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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Japanese women to emphasize defense in Nagano
The Japanese will play four-time world champion Canada in its opening game Feb. 8 before going on to face Finland, the United States, China and Sweden.
''We know we have a tough road ahead, we're just going to concentrate on our defense and since this is our first Olympics we want to impress the fans with our hard work,'' team manager Toru Itabashi said at a press conference Sunday at the Aqua Wing, the main venue for the women's ice hockey tournament.
Also attending the press conference was the team's Canadian coach Wally Kozak
''This team has improved a great deal in the past year, they've developed more individual skill and are a lot better with their team systems so I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do once the games start,'' Kozak said.
Several of the team's key players came down with colds and fevers Saturday but are expected to recover fully in time for the start of the tournament.
As the host nation, Japan was automatically placed in the round- robin ice hockey tournament, which will be an official Olympic event for the first time.
(Kyodo News)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun