The cup and medals for the 3rd place in group «B» were awarded to the hockey players of the national team of Turkmenistan at the Kazan Hockey Cup international tournament among teams of Islamic countries held in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.
12 teams participated in the men's competition, which were divided into three groups of four each.
The group in which the Turkmen hockey players had a chance to play turned out to be one of the strongest. After all, our guys, gaining still lacking experience and skills in a young sport for Turkmenistan, had to play against former professional hockey players, including from the KHL, who were staffed by the teams of Tatarstan and Kazakhstan.
In the first match, our compatriots lost to the winner of group «B» the team of Tatarstan - 2:7. The defender Aman Aganiyazov was recognized as the best in the Turkmen team. In the next round, Bayram Allayarov's wards beat the national team of Kyrgyzstan - 5:4, and the goalkeeper of our team Rahman Myradov, who successfully combines hockey with teaching at the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Education and Sports, was recognized as the best player. In the final match for the 2nd place in the group, the Turkmen team lost to more experienced Kazakh players - 1:5. As part of the national team of Turkmenistan, Begench Dovletmyradov recorded a goal at his own expense, and Dovlet Hadyrov was awarded the prize «Best Defender of the Division» at the closing of the tournament.
On the final day of the competition, a gala match will take place on the ice of the «Tatneft Arena», in which two best players from each team took part. The national team of Turkmenistan in the match of stars, which ended in a draw - 7: 7, was represented by the team captain Ahmed Gurbanov and forward Pavel Barkovskiy.
As the chairman of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan, Jora Hudayberdiev, told the «GA» correspondent, the national team of our country (it included 18 players from the «Galkan» sports club and one from the «Shir» and «Oguzhan» teams) left a good impression on the organizers and honored guests tournament, among which were the President of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation Rustam Minnikhanov, the President of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretyak, the President of the Ice Hockey Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation and the «Ak Bars» hockey club, General Director of «Tatneft» PJSC Nail Maganov.
It is noteworthy that during the days of the tournament in Kazan, Nail Maganov was also elected the head of the International Association for the Development of Ice Hockey of Islamic Countries, which was established by delegates from 14 countries. The heads of the hockey federations of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iran, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and representatives of the Ice Hockey Federation of the Republic of Tatarstan agreed on cooperation and interaction in the development of hockey, organizing joint sports tournaments, exchange of experience between federations.
The goal of the organization is the development of hockey in countries with the leading religion of Islam, the popularization of this sport in the regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Cooperation will allow countries to learn from the experience of Russian hockey, train players, coaches and referees, and gain access to methods for training young hockey players.
During a meeting with the leadership of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan, Nail Maganov invited our team to a training camp in Kazan, instructing his manager to create all conditions with the involvement of a professional coach for the fruitful preparation of Turkmen hockey players for the World Championship in the third division of group «A», which will be held from 17 to 23 April this year in South Africa.
