The national ice hockey team of Turkmenistan starts at the 2023 World Championship in the third division of group "A" with a match against South Africa.

The Ice Hockey World Championship matches (third division) in group A will be held from 17 to 23 April 2023 in Cape Town (South Africa). Five teams will compete for a ticket to the second division of group B: Luxembourg, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkmenistan, and South Africa. The full calendar of the championship can be found on the official IIHF website.

The game Turkmenistan - South Africa will be held today at 23:00 Ashgabat time at the Ice Station arena in Cape Town.

On April 19, Bayram Allayarov's wards will play with Luxembourg, on April 20 - with Thailand and will end the tournament on April 23 with a match with Taiwan.

Recall that Turkmen hockey players are two-time winners of bronze medals of the world championship in the third division of group A. The last time they achieved this achievement was last year at the World Championships in Luxembourg.

The Ice Station facility was opened in December 2000. The ice rink is the home arena for the teams of the Western Province Hockey Association of South Africa.

The South African Hockey Association has been a full member of the IIHF since February 25, 1937. The first African country to enter the IIHF.

In the current IIHF ranking, the South African team occupies 51st place, 3 positions behind Turkmenistan. The last time the teams met was on April 23, 2019 as part of the World Cup qualification tournament in Sofia (Bulgaria), the match ended in a crushing victory for the Turkmenistan team (7:2).

Schedule of matches of the national team of Turkmenistan

• Turkmenistan - South Africa (April 17, 23:00 Ashgabat time);
• Luxembourg - Turkmenistan (April 19, 19:00 Ashgabat time);
• Thailand - Turkmenistan (April 20, 23:00 Ashgabat time);
• Turkmenistan - Taiwan (April 23, 17:00 Ashgabat time).