The junior national hockey team of Turkmenistan won bronze medals in the third division of Group B at the World Championship among players under 18, which ended in Bangkok (Thailand), the publication "Turkmenistan: Golden Age" reports.
In the decisive match for bronze, the Turkmen hockey players defeated the team of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a score of 5:2 (1:1, 0:1, 4:0). The wards of coach Meylis Kuliev were twice behind during the match, but in the final period they were able to turn the tide of the game, scoring four unanswered goals. The hero of the match was Sultankhamit Vakhitov from the Galkan club, who scored a hat-trick. Another goal was scored by Meretgeldi Kakayev from the Shir club.
The winner of the tournament was the national team of Uzbekistan, which defeated the hosts of the competition, the team of Thailand, in the decisive match with a score of 3:2. Uzbek hockey players have received the right to play in the higher-ranking Group A of the third division next year.
Turkmenistan took third place with 9 points, behind Uzbekistan (15 points) and Thailand (12 points). Below them are the national teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina (5 points), South Africa (3 points) and Luxembourg (1 point).
Sultankhamit Vakhitov also became the top scorer of the tournament, scoring 24 points (10 goals + 14 assists). Another Turkmen forward, Iskenderkhan Durdyev from the Shir club, took third place in the list of snipers with 16 points (7 goals + 9 assists).
The captain of the Turkmenistan national team, Shohrat Begliyev, was recognized as the best player in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This is the second participation of Turkmen hockey players in competitions of this rank. Last year, at the U18 World Championship in Cape Town (South Africa), the Turkmenistan national team took second place in Group B of the third division.
The Turkmenistan national team included 19 hockey players from three clubs: 13 from Shira, 4 from Galkan and 2 from Oguzhan.
