Kaori CHIBA (Japan)

Kaori Chiba - Japan 
Date of Birth:  29 January 1981 (27)
Position: Forward

Always wearing a hint of make-up, Kaori Chiba has developed into something of a pin-up girl for women's hockey in Japan as well as a potent force in front of goal for Japan. Her strike power led Japan to best-ever fifth place results in both the 2006 World Cup and 2007 Champions Trophy tournaments.

After suffering serious knee ligament damage at the beginning of 2003, she used the time not only to rehabilitate her knee, but also to watch hours of footage and focus on how the world's top forwards 'ghost' into position to strike on goal.

Despite Japan finishing bottom of the table at the recent Champions Trophy in Mönchengladbach, Chiba finished third in the list of top scorers, having scored four of her teams’ six goals during the tournament. She will punish opposition defenders given time and space, so expect this dangerous forward to be closely marked in Beijing.

Chiba plays for the Sony Ichinomiya club in the Japan Hockey League and studies at Yamanashi Gakuin University, Kofu in central Japan.