In-Line Hockey World Championship
21st July 2003Great Britain earns 5th in Div. I with 9-5 win over New Zealand
Great Britain earned a fifth-place finish in the Div. I IIHF In-Line Hockey World Championship after defeating New Zealand, 9-5, in the 5th and 6th place placement game.
Great Britain finished the tournament with a record of three wins (South Africa 16-1, Hungary 6-2) and two losses (Brazil 9-6 and Australia in the quarter finals 9-4).
Former Manchester Storm forward Nick Crawley captained the team, which on paper one of the strongest sides ever to represent GB in an international In-Line hockey tournament.
This week in Nuremberg and Amberg, some ten thousand fans have attended games at the Nurnberg Arena, home of the DEL's Nurnberg Ice Tigers and in Amberg. Players involved in the tournament include current NHLers in the form of Edmonton Oiler Ales Hemsky and Ottawa Senator Karel Rachunek who both played for the Czech Republic. Games have been televised in Europe and the GB squad coached by GB ice hockey star Mark Cavallin have been a popular attraction.
Great Britain forward John Dolan from Dundee, who appeared for the Findus British National League's Dundee Stars and plays his roller hockey in Scotland for the Dundee Tigers led the team in scoring with fifteen points in five games to finish just four points behind NHLer Hemsky in the overall scoring rankings.
Netminder Nathan Gasco from Sheffield finished the tournament third in the overall goalie rankings with a 91.9 save percentage.
GB finished first in the rankings for the fair play trophy and were unlucky to lose their tournament opener to Brazil who contest the Division One gold medal game this weekend.
Wins over South Africa and Hungary meant GB finished second in their qualifying group behind the Brazilians and faced Australia in the quarter finals but despite their best efforts they lost out to the battling Aussies.
The win against New Zealand in the fifth and sixth place playoff was scant reward for the GB team knowing that the Kiwi's had beaten the Aussies in the group stage and that a medal was a distinct possibility if Australia had been ousted. Instead Brazil play Japan for the Division One gold.
The first IIHF In-Line World Cup was held in 1996 and was won last year by Sweden. The tournament concludes this weekend when Sweden take on Finland in the Pool A final in a repeat of last year's gold medal game.