Hockey players of the Turkmenistan national team won silver medals in the third division of group “B” at the world championship among players under 18 years of age, which was held in Cape Town (South Africa) with the participation of four teams, reports “Turkmenistan: Golden Age”.
The fate of the prize places and the winner of the tournament, who received the right to compete at the World Championships next year in the higher-ranking group “A” of the third division, was decided on the final day of the competition. Before the last round, three teams claimed first place in group “B”: the Hong Kong team (6 points) and the juniors of Turkmenistan and Thailand, which were 3 points behind it.
In the first match, the Thai team unexpectedly won against the undefeated Hong Kong team - 3:1 (1:1, 1:0, 1:0). Next, hockey players from Turkmenistan and South Africa entered the Ice Station arena.
Before this game, the Turkmen team crushed the Thailand team - 7:2 and lost to the Hong Kong team - 3:8. And the hosts of the tournament, the South Africans, lost both matches heavily, suffering defeats from Hong Kong - 1:11 and Thailand - 2:12.
In the 9th minute of the match, Allan Muhyev opened the scoring. 44 seconds after the start of the second period, Duvan van der Merwe, having realized the numerical majority, leveled the situation – 1:1.
At the end of the 24th minute, Sultanhamit Vahitov, going one on one with the goalkeeper, brought the Turkmenistan team ahead - 2:1. Less than three minutes later, Naomh Levin restored the balance – 2:2.
In the 33rd minute, Guvanchmyrat Jepbarov's team again took the lead, realizing a numerical majority. Shohrat Begliyev scored the third goal against the South African team from a pass from Alihan Aliskerov.
In the final period, only Turkmen hockey players scored. In the 42nd minute, Allan Muhyev increased the advantage of the Turkmen team, and then Iskenderhan Durdyev scored a double. In the 47th minute, he hit the goal with a wrist shot, and 28 seconds before the final siren he was quicker on the heel, setting the final score - 6:2 in favor of the Turkmenistan team.
After the game, the expert jury named the best players of the match. These were: in the South African national team - defender Dayan Kamish, and in the Turkmenistan team - captain Allan Muhyev.
