VILNIUS - China won the first match in the Ice Hockey World Championship Division I-B, beating the Netherlands 3-0 in Lithuania's capital here on Saturday.

After a goalless first period, China's Hou Yuyang opened the scoring in the second period. In the last period, Zheng Mingju and Zhang Zesen added to the scoreline.

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China's 18-year-old goalkeeper Chen Shifeng was named Player of the Match, with team leader Xu Wei telling Xinhua that this year the team has many young players with good potential.

Six teams - Lithuania, China, Estonia, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Spain - are competing in the championship which runs from April 27 to May 3. The winner will be promoted to Group A of the first division next year.

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Lithuania played in I-A last year but was relegated, while Spain earned promotion to I-B last year.

China's deputy team leader Gao Hongqun told Xinhua that the overall ability of China's players has improved.