Sweden are among the favourites to qualify for the women's ice hockey competition at Beijing 2022, with 12 teams vying for three spots ©Getty Images

The Final Women's International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Olympic Qualification is set to begin, with 12 teams vying for four spots at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics next year.

With less than 100 days to go until Beijing 2022, the qualification is played across three groups in three different locations. 

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway and Poland comprise Group C, with matches played in Chomutov in the Czech Republic.

Group D includes Germany, Denmark, Austria and Italy and will be played in Fussen in Germany. 

Lulea in Sweden hosts Group E, which features Sweden, France, Slovakia and South Korea.

For the first time at the Olympics, the women's ice hockey competition features 10 teams. 

The top six nations in the 2020 IIHF women's world rankings automatically qualified for the Olympics, as well as hosts China.

The top five teams - the United States, Canada, Finland, the Russian Olympic Committee and Switzerland - have been placed in Group A at the Olympics and will automatically qualify for the quarter-finals, though their placings in the group will determine their seeds for the knockout stages.

Japan, ranked sixth, and China have been placed in Group B and will be joined by three qualifiers, which will be the three group winners.

Three teams from Group B will then qualify for the quarter-finals at Beijing 2022.

Italy were one of three teams to come through Round 2 Olympic Qualifying and take their place in the IIHF Final Olympic Qualifying ©Getty Images
Italy were one of three teams to come through Round 2 Olympic Qualifying and take their place in the IIHF Final Olympic Qualifying ©Getty Images

Pre-Qualification Round 1, scheduled to be played in Icelandic capital Reykjavík, was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns after Bulgaria withdrew.

It was due to feature Iceland, Bulgaria, Hong Kong and Lithuania.

Round 2 featured three groups of four, won by South Korea, Italy and Poland, and they have been placed in Group E, Group D and Group C respectively.

The Czech Republic are the highest-ranked team in the competition, at seventh, while Germany and Sweden - eighth and ninth respectively - are the highest-ranked teams in their respective groups.

In Group C, Hungary - ranked 10th - are expected to challenge the Czech Republic.

Denmark, ranked 11th, will challenge Germany, while 12th-ranked France will be a test for Sweden.

Each team plays every other team in their respective group once, with competition set to begin tomorrow and conclude on Saturday (November 14).