World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool
11-20 April

About Gangneung 2017

Imagen
Ice sledge hockey players in action on the ice

Satoru Sudo, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Pavel Kubes - Czech Republic vs Japan - 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships

ⒸBill Wippert

Satoru Sudo, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Pavel Kubes - Czech Republic vs Japan - 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships © • Bill Wippert

The 2017 World Para Ice Hockey Championships A-Pool will be held at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung City, Gangwon-do, South Korea, from 11-20 April.

It will act as a Test Event for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games and will be a key qualification opportunity for the Winter Paralympics. It will also be the first World Championships held under the new banner of World Para Ice Hockey, as the sport rebranded in late 2016.

Organised by the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee, Gangneung 2017 will be the second time the World Championships A-Pool have been hosted in South Korea. The 2013 edition was held in Goyang.

The competition will feature seven teams – reigning champions the USA, Canada, hosts South Korea, Norway, Germany, Italy and Sweden.

The top five teams will advance directly to PyeongChang 2018, whilst the bottom two teams will play at the Qualification Tournament expected to take place in late 2017.

The venue

The Gangneung Hockey Centre has been built especially for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and sits in the Gangneung Coastal Cluster with the curling centre.

It holds 10,000 spectators and has two practice rinks in addition to the main rink.

History of the World Championships A-Pool

Buffalo, USA, 2015

Taking place one year after the hosts made history by becoming the first team to win back-to-back Paralympic golds, Buffalo 2015 attracted global media attention.

The USA successfully reclaimed the world title that they had lost to Canada in the gold medal match, beating their North American rivals 3-0.

The host nation’s teenage duo of 17-year-old Declan Farmer and 16-year-old Brody Roybal stole the show at the HARBORCENTER venue along with speedster Josh Pauls and goaltender Steve Cash.

A thrilling bronze-medal match was capped off when Russia’s Ilia Volkov scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lead Russia to a 2-1 victory and a spot on the podium against Norway.

Goyang, South Korea, 2013

At the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool in Goyang, South Korea, in 2013, Canada posted an historic victory, beating the USA to win their third world title - the most ever for any ice sledge hockey team - finishing the tournament with an undefeated 5-0 record.

In the bronze-medal game, Russia toppled the Czech Republic, 3-0, to make the podium at their first World Championships A-Pool.

Contact

To contact World Para Ice Hockey, please email ipcicesledgehockey@paralympic.org