Astana 2023: Undefeated Japan takes World Championships B-Pool title

Japan went undefeated to win gold for the first time at World Para Ice Hockey Championships B-Pool to earn a spot in the A-Pool for next season, while Slovakia took the silver medal and the second A-Pool spot available. Sweden snagged the bronze. 

The event, which concluded on Wednesday (11 October) was hosted in Astana, Kazakhstan, where six teams competed in the round-robin style tournament. The host nation finished fourth and Great Britian was fifth. Finland was relegated to the C-Pool for next season after placing sixth.

Japan, which outscored its opponents 31-2 at Terlan Arena, was anchored by the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament, Wataru Horie, who recorded a 0.45 goals against average and 92.86 save percentage across five games. Forward Masaharu Kumagai led their gold-medal scoring efforts with 11 goals and six assists, along with youngster Itsuki Ito, who had six goals and three assists, including the game-winning goal in an exciting penalty shootout victory against Slovakia. 

"I've been coaching for almost 20 years and this is the first time we win a gold medal.  We always finished silver [like] Vancouver [2010 Paralympic Winter Games], so this is our first gold medal ever and we are so happy," said Japan's Head Coach Kojin Nakakita.  "The preparations [for the World Championships A-Pool] start today. We are going to play hard, we have to train the body and the skills. We have to learn a lot of things to build up for the A-Pool, but we know what to do."

Proud hosts

Slovakia’s Martin Joppa led all tournament skaters in scoring with 12 goals and 12 assists and was named Best Forward of the tournament, leading his team to four wins in five days. Slovakia’s lone loss came to Japan.

Peter Nilsson was named Best Defenseman at the event with three goals and four assists for Sweden, leading his team to three victories and a bronze medal for the second consecutive time.

It was Kazakhstan’s debut in the event and first time hosting an international World Para Ice Hockey event after only starting its programme five years ago. The host nation notched two victories, including a tight 4-3 win against Great Britain in the final match of the tournament with four different skaters finding the net. Forwards Kuat Karipbayev and Alexandr Paskhalidi both finished the week with six points apiece. 

After winning the C-Pool World Championships last season, Great Britain left Kazakhstan with a 4-1 win over Finland to ensure it would remain in the B-Pool for next season. Six women who participated in August’s Women’s World Challenge were included on Great Britain’s roster – a record for an international open division tournament – with Dani Watts scoring a goal and Stacey Quirk adding an assist. 

Finland was unable to better its fifth-place finish from last year, going winless at the event, and will be relegated to the C-Pool for next season.

This marked the ninth edition of the B-Pool event and the third time it has been hosted in Asia. 

Complete results and statistics from the World Para Ice Hockey Championships B-Pool can be found here.