The Turkmen hockey players started the World Championship in the third division of Group «A», which is taking place in Istanbul (Türkiye), with a victory over the Bosnia and Herzegovina team – 3:1 (1:1, 0:0, 2:0).
The tournament, held under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), brought together six teams. The teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, South Africa and Turkmenistan are competing for a ticket to the second division of Group «B» in a single-round competition.
The Turkmenistan national team at the 2025 World Championship is represented by 19 hockey players from three clubs: 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 1 each from the «Oguzhan» club of the «Turkmengaz» State Concern and «Alp Arslan» club of the «Turkmenaragatnashyk» Agency.
The victory was not easy for the Turkmen hockey players. In the first period, the opponents scored once each. Musa Annasaparov’s goal in the 5th minute was answered by the Bosnians in the 14th minute with an accurate strike by Tarik Krenic.
The second 20 minutes passed without goals. And only in the final period, Ylyas Veliyev’s team was able to snatch victory, throwing two goals into the goal of the Bosnia and Herzegovina team in the 47th and 50th minutes. They were scored by Kerven Baylyyev and Dovlet Hydyrov.
In two other matches of the 1st round, the Kyrgyz team won against the South African team – 5:2, and the hosts of the tournament, the Turks, convincingly beat the Luxembourg team – 7:1.
The Men’s World Ice Hockey Championship is held according to a system divided into 5 divisions – TOP Division, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each division holds an independent tournament. There is an annual rotation of teams between the divisions – the best teams move up to a higher division, the worst ones drop down to a lower one. The winner of the tournament in the TOP Division is declared the world champion.
