Kazakhstan clinch World Championship Division I Group A gold on home ice
The Kazakh national team celebrates with the gold medals and trophy. (Photo by Marat Akimzhanov)
NUR-SULTAN, May 5, 2019 - It was the battle of the two undefeated teams for the top spot in their race to promotion and host team Kazakhstan won it, 3-2 in overtime. Thanks to the extra point not only Kazakhstan but also Belarus will be among the top-two teams to earn promotion to the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland.
Kazakhstan already got the news about promotion before the game because Korea, which was chasing the two teams for a top-two spot, surprisingly lost to Lithuania.
“We know what is the main aim – that we can take gold. We started very well with a lot of energy and scored two goals but then we conceded a foolish goal. Belarus scored the second goal in enthusiasm and took the initiative. But then we realized that we can’t lose, got more inspired and then we won,” said Nikita Mikhailis.
The Kazakh national team went on to win its fifth game of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A the following day to end the tournament with a perfect record.
Kazakhstan beat Hungary 3-1 in a tight game in which they outshot their opponent 35-32.
“Hungary started very well and the whole game was very competitive. In the beginning Hungary was very aggressive but then we could take the initiative and play our game. We took every game very serious. We wanted five wins and it happened. All the players were leaders in this championship and we won like one team,” Kazakh national team captain Talgat Zhailauov said.
For both teams the game didn’t have any implications for the standings anymore after the results of the previous two games of the day. Kazakhstan ended up as tournament winner, while Hungary was locked in fifth place.
Kazakhstan already got the news about promotion before the game because Korea, which was chasing the two teams for a top-two spot, surprisingly lost to Lithuania.
“We know what is the main aim – that we can take gold. We started very well with a lot of energy and scored two goals but then we conceded a foolish goal. Belarus scored the second goal in enthusiasm and took the initiative. But then we realized that we can’t lose, got more inspired and then we won,” said Nikita Mikhailis.
The Kazakh national team went on to win its fifth game of the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A the following day to end the tournament with a perfect record.
Kazakhstan beat Hungary 3-1 in a tight game in which they outshot their opponent 35-32.
“Hungary started very well and the whole game was very competitive. In the beginning Hungary was very aggressive but then we could take the initiative and play our game. We took every game very serious. We wanted five wins and it happened. All the players were leaders in this championship and we won like one team,” Kazakh national team captain Talgat Zhailauov said.
For both teams the game didn’t have any implications for the standings anymore after the results of the previous two games of the day. Kazakhstan ended up as tournament winner, while Hungary was locked in fifth place.
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