Kazakh national para hockey team grabs silver at their 1st-ever World Championships

ASTANA. KAZINFORM – Kazakhstan’s national para hockey team now have a reason to be truly proud of themselves as they collected silver at the 2022 World Para Ice Hockey Championships C-Pool in Bangkok, Thailand. It was their first-ever performance at such a high-level international tournament, Kazinform correspondent reports.

The Bangkok 2022 World Para Ice Hockey Championships C-Pool brought together para hockey teams from Kazakhstan, Thailand, Austria, Great Britain, and France.

In their first-ever tournament of such scale the Kazakh squad won three matches (7:0, 10:0 and 9:2) landing the second place in the tournament standing. Team Kazakhstan lost only to Great Britain with the score of 0:6.

This result allowed the Kazakh para athletes to propel to B-Pool and gave them a chance to compete at the World Para Ice Hockey Championships next year.

As part of a charity project Qazaqstan khalqyna Social Fund help the Kazakh national para hockey team purchase necessary equipment for training sessions and take part in the tournament.

It is expected that the national para hockey team will get 16 more sledges. To this end, the fund has already channeled some 12.4 million tenge.

According to head of the Astana Para Hockey Federation Kairat Sabirov, it was founded in 2021 by people with disabilities and reduced mobility. «The goal is to help people in difficult life situations. Presently the team consists of 18 people, including one girl, and two coaches. The youngest of the players is 17-years-old and the oldest player is 57,» says Sabirov.

Photo: qazaqstanhalqyna.kz