Kazakhstan's hockey players won the Asian Championship title for the third consecutive time by defeating South Korea 4:3 in a post-match shootout. After victories over Japan (3:2) and China (5:0), Talgat Zhailauov's charges only needed to avoid losing to the host South Koreans in regulation time. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Match result
🏒 SOUTH KOREA – KAZAKHSTAN 0:1 SO (0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:0, 0:1). Shootout 3:4
Shootout series: Chong Min Lee 1:0, Gross 1:1, Minjae Kwon (goalkeeper), Guseynov (missed), Sangeb Kim (missed), Mukhametov (goalkeeper), Jeongwoo Kim (missed), Rymarev 1:2, Minjun Hu 2:2, Yulbarisov (missed), Rymarev 2:3, Chong Min Lee 3:3, Rymarev (missed), Chong Min Lee (goalkeeper), Gross (missed), Woo Hoon Kwon (goalkeeper), Guseynov 3:4, Sihwan Kim (goalkeeper)
60 minutes of regulation time and overtime ended with zeros on the scoreboard. Everything was decided in the shootout series. Goalkeepers of both teams, Vladislav Nurek and Suhon Choi, played well in net. The hockey players needed 18 attempts to determine the winner. The decisive moment was an accurate shot by Ust-Kamenogorsk native Dias Guseynov and a save by Nomad Nurek. Our team is the three-time champion of the continent!
Previous championships
The first Asian Hockey Championship under the auspices of the IIHF was hosted by Almaty in 2024. The hosts lost to Korea 1:4 but defeated China 6:1 and Japan 5:1. And won gold medals. The Japanese became vice-champions, and bronze medals went to the South Korean team.
Last year, Kazakhstan again became the best in Asia. Our hockey players consistently defeated the Koreans (4:2), the host Chinese (5:1), and the Japanese (4:3). Silver went to South Korea, bronze to Japan.
The IIHF includes 26 Asian countries, but only four national teams participate in the continental championship.