University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's hockey alumna Cristine Chao played a pivotal role in an international bronze medal for Chinese Taipei at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship Division II Group A in Bled, Slovenia last week.

In a group consisting of Australia, Iceland, Poland, and host Slovenia, Chinese Taipei was able to finish third overall following a thrilling shootout victory in the bronze medal match on Sunday, April 18. It was four-time OUA all-star Chao that delivered the heroics, scoring the lone goal in the shootout victory over Iceland, helping Chinese Taipei secure their spot in the group for another year. The bronze medal marks an improvement on two previous fourth-place finishes for Chinese Taipei. Chao added an assist to her tally across four games played at the international showcase.

Chao competed with the Varsity Blues from 2015 to 2020, garnering several recognitions across her over 140 games played in the Blue and White. She was named an OUA and U SPORTS all-rookie in her debut season, while also receiving U SPORTS All-Canadian, OUA defender of the year, and OUA most sportsmanlike player honours across the entirety of her intercollegiate career. A strong skater with exceptional passing vision, the commerce grad finished her time with the U of T women's hockey team registering 69 career regular season points (18 G, 51 A). She added another 14 career postseason points (4 G, 10 A), helping the Blues to the 2020 OUA McCaw Cup.

Chinese Taipei will be joined in Division II Group A by Australia, Iceland, Slovenia, North Korea, and Spain for 2027.