The main trophy of the international hockey tournament in Ashgabat will be played in the finals «Galkan» (Turkmenistan) and «ADIHIC-Kazan» (Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation). And in the match for 3rd place «Feniks» (Uzbekistan) and «Volat» (Belarus) will meet. This was determined today based on the results of the final matches in groups «A» and «B», which took place at two arenas of the Sports Complex for Winter Sports.
In Group «A», the Uzbek «Feniks» and the Iranian «Ice Box Iran Mall» met in the first match. Both teams went into the head-to-head match with 6 points each. Therefore, the fate of second place in the group depended on the outcome of this match, and with it the right to play in the match for bronze medals.
The Uzbek hockey players were more determined to play the game, going into the first break with the score 2:0 in their favour. In the 36th minute, the Iranians reduced the gap to a minimum – 1:2. It seemed a little more and the game would level out. But it was not there. At the end of the second period, within one minute, the Uzbek team scored three goals into the opponent’s goal, removing final doubts about the winner of the match. The fourth goal turned out to be very curious: after Otabek Umarov’s shot, the puck bounced up and landed on the helmet protecting the goalkeeper’s head, after which it went down his back and rolled into the goal net.
In the final 20 minutes, the Uzbek team once again hit the goal of the «Ice Box Iran Mall», setting the final score 6:1 in their favour.
The opponents of the Uzbek hockey players in the match for the bronze medals of the tournament were determined in the final games in group «B».
In the first of them, «Dordoi» (Kyrgyzstan) and «Volat» (Belarus) entered the small arena of the Ice Sports Complex. The first two periods ended goalless. Having opened the scoring in the 44th minute after an accurate shot from Vitaliy Marchenko, «Volat» maintained the winning result throughout almost the entire third period. However, in the last minute of the game, Sultanbek Tokoyev leveled the situation - 1:1, as a result of which overtime had to be called for the first time in this tournament to determine the winner.
In the extra 5 minutes, in which the teams played 3x3, in the last minute of playing time, luck smiled on the Belarusian team's striker Eduard Gryn. The goalkeeper saved his first shot, but was unable to save the second one. Having won a difficult victory in overtime with a score of 2:1, «Volat» with 8 points remained in second place, allowing them to play the match for the bronze medals of the tournament.
Before the last match in this group, the «Aqmola» club from Kazakhstan also had a chance to play for bronze medals, which had 6 points. But for this, the Kazakhstanis needed to defeat the Russian team «ADIHIC-Kazan» from the Republic of Tatarstan, which had 9 points, in the final round. However, the hopes of the Kazakh hockey players were not destined to come true.
Throughout the game, «ADIHIC-Kazan» had a noticeable advantage, which ultimately resulted in goals scored in each period. The Russians eventually won - 6:1 (1:0, 2:0, 3:1) and took the lead in Group A with 12 points. Second place was taken by «Volat» (8 points), third by «Aqmola» (6 points), fourth by «Dordoi» (4 points) and fifth by «Team Turkiye» (0 points).
In Group «A», in the final match, the «Oman Nationals» team from Oman defeated the «Bahrain Ice Hockey Club» from Bahrain - 3:2 (1:1, 1:1, 1:0), after which the final table in it became as follows view: in first place «Galkan» (12 points), in second place – «Feniks» (9 points), in third place – «Ice Box Iran Mall» (6 points), in fourth place – «Oman Nationals» (3 points) and on fifth – «Bahrein Ice Hockey Club» (0 points).
The final and the match for 3rd place will take place on the 20th of April at the large ice arena of the Sports Complex for Winter Sports.
