Our young hockey players reached the semi-finals of a prestigious tournament in Sarajevo

Turkmenistan's national under-18 hockey team managed to reach the semi-finals from Group "B" of the third division of the 27th World Junior Championship held in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). This was determined based on the results of the final matches in the subgroups.

The winners of Groups "A" and "B" – the national teams of Iceland and Thailand – advanced to the semi-finals ahead of schedule. In Group "A", the teams of Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Africa competed for a semi-final spot, while in Group "B", the teams of Turkmenistan and Luxembourg vied for the same.

First, the juniors of South Africa and Luxembourg met at the "Skenderija" sports arena. The first period ended 2-1 in favor of Luxembourg. However, the South African hockey team turned the tide and won 7-3 (1-2, 2-0, 4-1).

Regardless of the result of the match between the national teams of Turkmenistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg remained in last place in Group "B", allowing the second-placed Turkmen hockey players to advance to the semi-finals.

For the team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the match against Turkmenistan was of particular importance. A victory in this match propelled the World Championship hosts into the semi-finals as the second-placed team in Group "A". They achieved this goal by winning 3-0 (0-0, 1-0, 2-0). The scorers for the winners were Mak Dizdarevic (23rd minute), Ali Milabegovic (47th minute), who was named the player of the match, and Deni Drnda (53rd minute). For Turkmenistan, goalkeeper Oraz Jepbarow was selected as the player of the match.

In another final round match, the team of Thailand defeated Iceland 4-2 (1-1, 1-0, 2-1).

Thus, in the first semi-final, Thailand and Turkmenistan will meet, while in the second semi-final, the teams of Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina will face each other. The winners of these pairs will compete in the final for promotion to the third division Group "A", while the losing teams will meet for third place.

The under-18 World Championship in the third division Group "B", held under the auspices of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), is the seventh-tier competition involving six national teams.