Azam Sanaei, the 34-year-old captain of the Iranian women�s ice hockey team, has just returned from Thailand where her team ended up as the runner-up in the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's Asia and Oceania Championship.

After impressive performances against formidable opponents throughout the tournament, the Iranian team went down fighting in the summit clash against reigning champion and hosts Thailand 3-1.

On the road to finals, Sanei�s girls defeated India 17-1, Kuwait 20-0, Kyrgyzstan 26-0, United Arab Emirates 14-0 and Singapore 3-0, conceding only one goal in five exciting games.

It was the IIHF debut for Team Melli, and they managed to create history in their first foray.

Speaking to the Press TV website, the proud skipper said the impressive result shows the women�s ice hockey team �holds enormous potential�.

�Undoubtedly, the Iranian women�s ice hockey team holds great potential, and if we keep on doing a good job, we will definitely get a gold medal in the next tournament,� she said, oozing confidence.

The 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women�s Asia and Oceania Championship was held in Bangkok, Thailand, from April 30 to May 7, organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

According to Sanaei, all seven teams that took part in the tournament were much stronger and more experienced than Iran. The Iranian side went into the competition with only three years of training.

�Our team trained day and night because we knew other teams were more experienced,� the captain told the Press TV website. �We only trained for three years and had to make up for the gap.�

Sanaei has accompanied the female inline hockey team since it was first formed in 2012.

In the last more than a decade, the team participated in only three Asian championships and came third every time, Sanaei said, which prompted her girls to work harder this time.

In 2018, after Asian Roller Sports Championship in South Korea, Iran�s inline hockey team decided to replicate the success in ice hockey.

The first standard-sized ice hockey rink measuring around 1,800 meters was built only three years ago in Tehran�s northwestern outskirts.

�It was a dream come true for inline hockey players who wanted to play on the ice,� she said.

Since then, the captain said, young players began training hard to secure a spot in the first Iranian women�s national ice hockey squad.

As the ice hockey team�s training coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, international tournaments were postponed indefinitely. The tournament in Thailand presented the first opportunity for Sanaei and her team to prove their mettle at the international level.

�In the final match, our players played beyond their abilities. Our rival was the host country and a title holder, their professional experience led to our defeat,� she said.

�It was nonetheless a close fight, until the end of the second half we were tied 1-1. However, in the third and last period, we were left behind and settled for the second place.�

Fatemeh Esmaili, a 25-year-old striker of the Iranian women�s national ice hockey team, said she and her teammates �did a great job� to make it to the final, even though they had bigger expectations.

By Press TV