Finns win women's ice hockey bronze at Beijing Olympics

Finland bagged bronze in the women's ice hockey at Beijing Olympics 2022 on after they beat Switzerland by 4 goals to nil at Wukesong Sports Centre on Wednesday.

Viivi Vainikka scored the first goal at the 12^th minutes to take the lead for Finland followed by Susanna Tapani, Nelli Laitinen and Michelle Karvinen to ensured victory over Switzerland.

It was Finland´s fourth Olympic bronze medal in the women's ice hockey.

The gold-medal match will be played between the USA and Canada on Thursday.

"It feels really good, amazing," Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski, who got her third Olympic bronze medal in Beijing told news agency Xinhua, adding, "obviously, today Switzerland also played really well, and they made it really tough for us."

"We have some amazing players on this team," said Finland head coach Jusso Toivola terming the 4-0 victory as a great result.

Finland showed great efficiency on power play in previous matches, and so did they in Wednesday's bronze medal match. The Finns had four power play chances during the match, and made two goals out of them, reported Xinhua.

Finland outshot the Swiss 13-5 in the first period. Vainikka hit the puck into the net on 11 minutes 38 seconds to award the Finns 1-0 lead.

Both teams fought hard but the second period turned out to be goalless. Finland kept playing aggressively on the offensive side, leading 34-9 on shooting attempts in the first two periods.

At the beginning of the final period, Tapani made full use of a turnover, beating Swiss defense through a fast-break attack to extend the advantage to 2-0. It was the sixth goal for the 28-year-old veteran at the 2022 Olympics.

Switzerland had to put more attention on the offensive side, only to see Laitinen and Karvinen score to seal the victory.

Finland won total six medals-one gold, two silvers and three bronzes- in Beijing Olympics so far.

Earlier, Finnish skiers Iivo Niskanen and Joni Mäki placed second in the men's cross-country skiing team sprint on Wednesday and secured the second silver medal for the country at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

On February 11, Finnish skier Iivo Niskanen bagged the gold medal of cross-country men's 15km classic at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.

On February 10, Finnish skiers Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski won silver and bronze medals respectively in the women's 10km classic of cross-country skiing at Beijing 2022.

On February 6, Iivo Niskanen brought first medal for Finland in the Beijing Winter Olympics after he won in the 15km + 15km Skiathlon.