The national ice hockey team of Turkmenistan will start at the 2022 World Championship in the third division of Group A with a match against the United Arab Emirates. This game will take place on April 3 at 18:30 Ashgabat time at the ice arena in the city of Kokelshöhe in Luxembourg.
The UAE Ice Hockey Federation has been a full member of the IIHF since May 2001. For the first time, the UAE national team made its debut in the Arab Nations Cup in 2008, defeating Kuwait 4:1.
The UAE national team is led by Canadian coach David Rich. Several foreigners who play in the UAE hockey championship are declared for it, but do not have the citizenship of the country, since it is very difficult to obtain it. To do this, you need to play two years in the local championship. Among them are natives of the CIS countries: Ilya Chuikov, Alexander Usenko, Artur Zainutdinov, Vitaly Savko and Maxim Zaharov.
In the current IIHF ranking, the Emirates team ranks 44th, ahead of Turkmenistan by 4 positions. The last time the teams met was on February 25, 2018 as part of the World Cup qualification tournament in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), the match ended with the victory of the Turkmenistan national team (4: 0).
Schedule of matches of the national team of Turkmenistan
- UAE - Turkmenistan (April 3, 18:30 Ashgabat time);
- Turkmenistan - Luxembourg (April 5, 22:00 Ashgabat time);
- Turkmenistan - Taiwan (April 7, 18:30 Ashgabat time);
- Turkey - Turkmenistan (April 8, 18:30 Ashgabat time).
The full championship calendar can be downloaded in PDF format on the IIHF official website.
