Asian Ice Hockey tournament begins today
By Abdellatif Sharaa
KUWAIT: The Asian Ice Hockey Tournament 2017 will be launched at ice skating rink today under the patronage of Commerce and Industry Minister, Acting State Minister for Youth Affairs Khalid Al-Roudhan with four teams participating Macao, India, Oman and Kuwait. The tournament will continue until April 25, as Kuwait’s National Ice Hockey team will start its competition with Macao at 8:30 pm tonight, this match will be proceeded with the opening ceremony. A match between India and Oman will take place at 4:30 pm.
Kuwait’s Ice Hockey players seek a good start with the highly improved Macao team and the main competitor of our national team. Meanwhile the second match seems to be balanced though Oman may be a slight favorite.
Secretary of Kuwait Winter Games Club Bashar Al-Nassar said this tournament is different from all others because it is being held under full supervision by the International Ice Hockey Federation, and under the Kuwait flag since Kuwait sports were placed under suspension for more than a year, and this gives Kuwaiti fans to back their national team after a long absence of such events. Al-Nassar said the club, under the leadership of Fuhaid AlAjmi completed all preparations for the tournament, including the opening ceremony to bring out the event in the best way possible especially that the club’s officials have vast experience following the organization of several Asian and Gulf tournaments with success. He welcomed Kuwait’s guests and wished them pleasant stay in the friendship and peace country.
Meanwhile, Al-Nassar said Kuwait’s team has outstanding players with experience and youth who are able to reach the goal of winning the tournament for the second time, and asked Kuwait’s fans to come in support of their team during all matches. Kuwait National Ice Hockey team goalkeeper Jassim Al-Sarraf said the team is ready for the tournament, following its participating few months ago in the Winter Asian Games in Japan and ended in sixth place. He said the team also held a training camp in Abu Dhabi, UAE during which it held several strong matches, most notably the match with a Canadian team.