Russian men’s hockey team lived to their
billing in the first Men’s Hockey World League Round One Tournament, clobbering
50th ranked Bulgaria 11-0 at Sveti Ivan Zelina near Zagreb in
Croatia.
The 23rd ranked Russians
wasted little time to get into the goal-scoring act as Nikolay Yankun converted a
penalty corner in the 4th minute of play to dictate terms to their
opposition. Dmitry Azarov then stole the show, firing home a short corner as
well as converting a penalty stroke before going on to complete a breezy
hat-trick close to half-time as Russia led 8-0 at the break.
Nikolay Yankun added his second in the
second half while Ilfat Zamalutdinov also notched up a brace. Nikolay Komaraov,
Alexander Palyanitsa, Pavel Plesetskiy, Alexey Mayorov scored a goal each to
complete the decimation job.
Hosts and 36th ranked Switzerland
riding high after their opening 11-0 win over Bulgaria, chalked up their second
win on the trot, crushing 39th ranked Turkey 7-1. It was Turkey’s
second loss after they went down tamely 1-6 to Croatia.
It may be noted that teams with rankings
higher than 20 compete in HWL Round One for the right to compete in Round Two
events. The Round Two competitors have a ranking from 11 to 19 will earn the
right to compete in Round Three – the level of competition at which the
lower-ranked teams enter the contest.
The winners of Round Three reach the
Final Round and will contest the right to play at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The
top six or seven teams from the Hockey World League will qualify for the
Olympics alongside each continental champion.
The writer can be contacted at:
suhridbarua@gmail.com
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