Snow football players compete at China's 2020 National Winter Games in Hulunbuir, China, December 28, 2019. (Photo: CGTN)

The group stage of snow football at China's 2020 National Winter Games wrapped up on Monday in the city of Hulunbuir, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The teams representing Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the provinces of Jiangxi, Hubei, and Shaanxi respectively clinched the four semi-final spots.

Twenty-two teams from 17 provinces, three autonomous regions and two municipalities took part in the matches.

Just missing the cut was the team representing Jiangsu Province, which needed a win against the team representing Sichuan Province for a chance to stay in the runner-up spot in Group A.

Team Jiangsu won the contest 2-1, but the victory was not enough as Team Jiangxi overcame a 3-0 deficit to force a 3-3 draw with the team from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Those two teams advanced, with Team Jiangsu missing the next round by a single point.

Teams Hubei and Shaanxi claimed the two semi-final tickets out of Group B, closing the door for Teams Jilin and Heilongjiang, who dropped down to the classification round alongside Teams Jiangsu and Yunnan. The matches in other four divisions will begin in January and February.

The sport of snow football was added to the tournament for the first time this year, and had three divisions in the men's group and two in the women's group.

The National Winter Games are held every four-five years, and the last event was held in 2016 in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This year's tournament serves as a test competition for China as the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games draws near.