Berlin to host Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics Qualification Tournament

Six Para ice hockey teams will compete for the final two Beijing 2022 spots at the Paralympic Qualification Tournament in Berlin, Germany from 26 November - 1 December. 

Norway, Italy, Slovakia, Germany, Sweden and Japan will all participate in a round-robin style tournament, playing five games each. The event will take place at the Eissporthalle am Glockenturm. 

The stadium holds up to 1,000 spectators and hosted the World Championships B-Pool in 2019. 

Norway, Italy and Slovakia were the last three finishers at the World Championships A-Pool, while Germany and Sweden finished within the top three at the World Championships B-Pool.

China, which automatically qualified for the Beijing 2022 Games as the host nation, decided not to use their allocation slot at the Qualification Tournament, meaning it was allocated to the next highest seeded team from the World Championships B-Pool, which in this case was Japan.

Of the group, Norway is the most successful on the Paralympic stage with five medals in the sport, while Sweden has three and Japan has one. Italy has competed at the last four Paralympics on the ice, while Germany has not participated since 2006 and Slovakia is looking to make its Paralympic debut.

The top two finishers from the Qualification Tournament will join the six teams which have already qualified for Beijing 2022: USA, Canada, RPC, South Korea, Czech Republic and China. 

“We’ve seen some fantastic Para ice hockey matches at the A and B-Pool already this year, and we’re looking forward to continuing that momentum for the sport at the Paralympic Qualification Tournament in November," said World Para Ice Hockey manager Michelle Laflamme. 

The competition schedule for the Qualification Tournament is as follows:

26 November

11:30: Japan vs. Norway
15:00: Sweden vs. Slovakia
18:30: Germany vs. Italy

27 November

11:30: Slovakia vs. Japan
15:00: Italy vs. Sweden 
18:30: Norway vs. Germany

28 November

11:30: Italy vs. Slovakia
15:00: Norway vs. Sweden
18:30: Japan vs. Germany

30 November

11:30: Italy vs. Japan
15:00: Slovakia vs. Norway
18:30: Germany vs. Sweden 

1 December

11:30: Norway vs. Italy
15:00: Sweden vs. Japan
18:30: Slovakia vs. Germany