“Nobody was expecting such a great outcome, so everyone was quite shocked and surprised,” Azam Sanaei told Al Jazeera, in what can only be described as an understatement.
The 34-year-old is the captain and assistant coach of Iran women’s ice hockey team that came so close to becoming champions of Asia and Oceania last month.
The team did not even exist three years ago, but now looks like it could be a force to be reckoned with.
In May, Iran travelled to Bangkok to play in the IIHF Women’s Asia and Oceania Championship for the first time.
Iran started the eight-nation tournament with a 17-1 demolition of India, followed by even more emphatic wins over Kuwait (20-0) and Kyrgyzstan (26-0). They beat the United Arab Emirates 14-0 in the quarters and Singapore 3-0 in the semis.
Iran’s run was ended by the host nation in the final. The score was 1-1 for much of the game before…
