The Turkmen hockey players achieved their second consecutive victory at the ongoing World Championship Division III Group A in Istanbul, where six teams are competing for the only promotion spot to Division II Group B.
In the first round, as previously reported, our compatriots defeated the team from Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3:1 (1:1, 0:0, 2:0), and in the second round, they won against Turkiye with a score of 2:1 (1:1, 1:0, 0:0). In the first round, Turkiye had crushed their opponents from Luxembourg – 7:1 (4:0, 2:0, 1:1).
Previously, the national teams of Turkmenistan and Turkiye had met twice at World Championships, and both times the Turks celebrated victory: 5:4 at the 2019 World Championship in Sofia (Bulgaria) and 6:5 at the 2022 World Championship in Kockelscheuer (Luxembourg).
In the third encounter between the teams, Kerven Bayliyev from the “Shir” club of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations opened the scoring in the 8th minute. Before the break, in the 17th minute, the captain of the Turkish team, Ferhat Bakal, equalized the score – 1:1.
In the 22nd minute, Alexander Vakhovsky, who was recognized as the best player of the match, put the Turkmenistan team ahead – 2:1. In the final 20 minutes, the score did not change.
Having claimed their first-ever victory over the Turkish national team – 2:1, the Turkmen hockey players have earned 6 points after two rounds. The Kyrgyzstan team also has 6 points after defeating Luxembourg – 6:0 (0:0, 3:0, 3:0).
Turkiye and South Africa each have 3 points. South Africa secured their first win at the 2025 World Championship, narrowly defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 3:0 (1:0, 2:1, 0:1), leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina at the bottom of the standings with 0 points.
In the next round, Ilyas Veliyev’s team will play against Luxembourg.
Recall that Turkmenistan is represented at the World Championship in Istanbul by 19 hockey players: 12 from the Galkan club of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 5 from the “Shir” club of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, and one each from Oguzhan of the Turkmengas State Concern and Alp Arslan of the Turkmenaragatnashyk Agency.
