The 2022 Ice Hockey World Championship in the third division of group “A” ended today in Luxembourg. The ice hockey competition under the auspices of the IIHF was held from April 3 to 8 at the ice arena in the city of Kockelscheuer.

As a result of the tournament the UAE team took first place and received the right to play in group “B” of the second division of the 2023 World Cup. The Belarusian forward of the UAE national team Maxim Zaharov scored 22 points and scored 7 goals, becoming the best player in the championship. The Luxembourg hockey team took the last place.

In the championship participated 5 national teams - three from Asia and two from Europe. The DPRK national team was supposed to participate in the tournament, however due to the pandemic, the country’s sports leadership decided to withdraw the team.

Turkmen hockey players took the third place in the final standings. After four games, Bayram Allayarov’s wards scored 4 points. The Turkmenistan national team lost to Turkey in a bitter struggle – 4:5 on the final day of the World Cup. The Taiwanese team finally defeated Luxembourg 5:3 in another match.

As a result of the 2022 World Ice Hockey Championship in the third division of group “A”, the standings are the follows: UAE – 12 points, Turkey – 9 points, Turkmenistan – 4 points, Taiwan – 3 points, Luxembourg – 2 points.

The Ice Hockey World Championship is held in several divisions depending on the ranking of the teams. The 2020 and 2021 tournaments have been canceled by the IIHF due to the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

The Turkmenistan national ice hockey team joined the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2015. The Turkmen hockey players, making their debut at the World Championship in Sofia (Bulgaria) in 2019, took the third place in the third division among 6 teams, that represented Europe, Asia and Africa. The team was led to this achievement by the head coach Bayram Allayarov, under whose leadership the Turkmenistan national team won small gold medals in the second division tournament in the program of the VIII Asian Winter Games in Sapporo (Japan) in 2017, and won in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2018 Qualifying tournament for the World Cup with the participation of four teams.

The Turkmen hockey team will again compete for a promotion in the class in 2023. Next season, in addition to Turkey, Taiwan and Luxembourg, the South African team will play in group “A” of the third division of the World Cup.

Another team will be determined based on the results of the 2022 World Cup matches in the second division of group “B”. The tournament will be held on April 18-30 in Iceland.