The hockey players of the national team of Turkmenistan won bronze medals in the third division of group "B" at the junior World Championship among players under the age of 18, which was held in Bangkok (Thailand) with the participation of six teams.

The third division of group “B” is considered the weakest, seventh in rank, in which places are played from the 41st to the 46th in the general classification of the Junior World Championship, which is held in four divisions, including top.

The fate of the prize places and the winner of the tournament, who received the right to play at the World Cup in a higher group “A” of the third division, was decided on the final day of the competition. Before the last round, two teams claimed the first place in group “B” - the national teams of Thailand and Uzbekistan, who had 12 points before his full-time game. The duel took place in a stubborn struggle and ended with the victory of Uzbek hockey players - 3: 2 (1: 1, 1: 1, 1: 0).

The bronze medal winners were determined in a match between the teams of Turkmenistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who had 6 and 5 points respectively before the last round. The Turkmen players had defeated the Luxembourg national team before this game. – 8:2 (1:0, 3:2, 4:0), Then we lost to the Thai juniors. – 3:4 (1:0, 0:3, 2:1) and Uzbekistan – 2:8 (2:4, 0:3, 0:1) and won against the peers of the Republic of South Africa – 18:7 (5:3, 3:1, 10:3).

The match with the team of Bosnia and Herzegovina turned out to be difficult for our hockey players, who lost twice in the score during the meeting. Shohrat Begliev played the puck in the first period. However, in the second 20 minutes, Visile Vucinic scored the second goal against the Turkmen national team, and on the second break the teams left with the score 2:1 in favor of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the final period, the game changed radically on the ice court, as evidenced by four unanswered goals against the Bosnians. Soltanhamit Vakhitov from “Galkan” club scored another hat-trick at the tournament. Meretgeldi Kakaev from the “Shir” club scored another goal.

Having won with a score 5:2 (1:1, 0:1, 4:0), the national team of Turkmenistan finished in third position with 9 points, 3 points behind the silver medalist Thailand and leaving behind the teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina (5 points), South Africa (3 points) and Luxembourg (1 point).

Having settled for third place, the Turkmen juniors will once again compete in the lowest-ranked group "B" of the third division in 2026.

After the game, the expert jury named the best players of the match. These are: defender Visile Vucinic in the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and captain Shohrat Begliev in the team of Turkmenistan.

Rustam Irgashev (Uzbekistan) was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament, Natchayathorn Yannakornthanapunt (Thailand) was named the defender, and Jasurbek Rustamkhonov (Uzbekistan) was named the attacker.

The best scorer of the tournament was the striker of the national team of Turkmenistan Sultanhamid Vakhitov, who scored 24 points (10 goals + 7 assists). Jasurbek Rustamkhonov (Uzbekistan) was 2 points behind him, with 14 goals and 8 assists. Turkmen forward Iskenderkhan Durdiev from the “Shir” club rounded out the top three with 16 points (7 goals + 9 assists).

Turkmenistan's hockey players for the second time participated in competitions of this rank, for which they were preparing under the leadership of Meilis Kuliev and his assistants– Maksat Ataev and Azatgeldi Byashimov.

The national team of Turkmenistan at the U18 World Junior Championship in Thailand was represented by 19 hockey players from three clubs: 13 from the “Shir” club of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, 4 from the “Galkan” club of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 2 from the “Oguzkhan” club of the “Turkmengaz” State Concern.

Last year, at the U18 World Championship in Cape Town (South Africa), the junior national team of Turkmenistan, led by Guvanch Jepbarov and Maksat Ataev, took second place in group “B” of the third division among four teams, losing the first place to Hong Kong hockey players who won a ticket to Group “A”.