Kuwait rout Oman to win Challenge Cup – Al-Ajmi steals show

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KUWAIT CITY, April 26: Kuwait’s national ice hockey team have been crowned winners for the second time of the Division 1 of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia, which concluded on Tuesday at the Kuwait Ice Skating Rink.

The Kuwaiti team won after defeating the Omani team with a splendid score of 13-0 in the final game of the championship.

At the end of the championship, Deputy Director General for Sports Affairs at the Public Authority for Sports Dr Hamoud Al-Fuleiteh presented prizes to the winning team and the players who won the tournament titles.

Kuwait demonstrated a strong level of performance in the first and second rounds of the final match against Oman. The team scored 10 goals — an average of five goals in the two rounds — and then completed the third round with three more goals. This win gave Kuwait full points in the championship after being unbeaten in all of its matches.

Before the last match of the championship, the Indian team defeated Macau team with a score of 7-3, taking second place, while Oman settled for third place, and Macau — the 2014 gold medalist and 2016 bronze medalist — came last without acquiring any point throughout the championship.

The best player award went to Ahmad Al-Ajmi of Kuwait. The best goalkeeper award went to India’s goalkeeper Georgie Malau. The best defender award went to Jassem Al-Awadhi of Kuwait and the best attacker award went to Santan Chandra of India.

Head of the championship’s organizing committee Fuhaid Al-Ajmi commended the Kuwaiti team for their performance throughout the championship, the many goals they scored and the few goals scored against them. He considered the win as a strong motivation for participation in the coming tournaments.

Al-Ajmi said the level of technical performance witnessed in the championship was good, and was characterized by the high levels of the participating teams.

He expressed appreciation and gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of the championship.

The Division 1 of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia started on April 22 at the Kuwait Ice Skating Rink under the patronage of Minister of Commerce and Industry and State Minister for Youth Affairs Khaled Al-Roudhan.

Four countries participated in this championship, namely Kuwait, India, Oman and Macau.

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