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Mens Under 18 Division III Group B World Championships 2017 in Mexico City (MEX) Day 2 Schedule (18th March 2017) GMT -6 20:00 South Africa vs Hong Kong Day-Off: Mexico

Mens Under 18 Division III Group B World Championships 2017 in Mexico City (MEX) Day 1 (17th March 2017) GMT -6 20:30 Hong Kong vs Mexico 1-11

FIS SNOWBOARDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men's Big Air Final Results SANDBECH Staale 188.25 CORNING Chris 182.75 KLEVELAND Marcus 177.25 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Women's Big Air Final Results GASSER Anna 189.50 RUKAJARVI Enni 165.25 NORENDAL Silje 162.75 Gasser and Sandbech claim world champs Gold in stunning big air show Anna Gasser (AUT) and Staale Sandbech (NOR) have crowned themselves new big air world champions at the Sierra Nevada 2017 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships in a thrilling final of the major event's last snowboard competition which saw both Gold medallists landing tricks they have never sticked in a contest before. In fact, Gasser became the first women to ever land a backside double cork 1080 mute in a competition wowing not only the judges and fans but also her coaches and herself. With her arms raised in joy and her jaw dropped almost to her knees the dominating rider of this winter couldn't belief what she had just done when riding over to the sponsor wall to wait for the judges call. However, everybody around just knew what would be coming in this women's final which will not be soon forgotten as all six ladies were going for it showcasing under the lights how fast women's snowboarding is progressing right now. By scoring a perfect 100 for the historical trick the 25-year-old took her career's first title with a total of 189.50 after having also landed her signature cab double cork 900 mute before. “I haven't really realised it yet. I'm so happy, especially that I have put down the backside dub 1080. I have been thinking of this trick for quite a while now. In fact, the world championships title is the icing on the cake. Today, everything just came together. I knew I had to land my first tricks clean. I got good scores on them, and then I knew that it's now or never to go for it.” And her competitors for the big air crown appreciated Gasser's dedication to once again push the sport a little bit further. Enni Rukajarvi (FIN; 165.25) and Silje Norendal (NOR; 162.75) who both took the respective Silver and Bronze lauded Gasser with Norendal, who had sticked a cab 900, saying: “The finals were pretty good which is pretty cool, and I'm super stoked to see Anna landing the back double 10. I think women's snowboarding is progressing so much, and I'm just happy to be a part of it.” Over in the men's event, Sandbech, who had just been able to ride again before christmas coming back from a second meniscus surgery he had to undergo after the first one didn't went well, sticked a cab 1440 tail in the semis as well as the finals. However, it was his backside triple cork 1440 and a frontside 1440 tail the judges liked more giving him a total of 188.25 to walk away with the Gold in the three run, best two count final of his first ever world championships competition. “Hell yeah! It's amazing. I mean, I was able to land all of my runs in the finals, actually three different tricks, three different rotations which I kind of mostly did for myself to prove that I can do it. It's been a good night,” Sandbech said after finally being back on top of his game for which he had fought hard over the last couple of weeks. “I kind of have been pushed into competitions right away where I had to learn my tricks of last year again. I have been struggling a bit with the confidence to not being scared. But the last two weeks until now have been a confidence boost, and I feel myself and my snowboarding again.” Chris Corning (USA; 182.75) as well as Marcus Kleveland (NOR; 177.25), the only one to land a cab triple cork 1620, rounded out the podium as second and third, respectively, making the podium sweep by world champs novices complete. Full Mens Qualification , Semifinal and Final Full Womens Qualification , Semifinal and Final Snowboarding World Championships 2017 Final Medal Standing Here Anna Gasser 2017 Womens Big Air World Champion and Staale Sandbech 2017 Mens Big Air World Champion

Nilsson and Harvey win final sprints of the season Stina Nilsson of Sweden and Canada's Alex Harvey won the final sprint competition of the season as part of the first day of the World Cup finals in Quebec City, Canada. Nilsson continued her season long battle with Norway's Maiken Caspersen Falla. The two athletes were clear again of the field and this time by 2.58 seconds ahead of third place finisher Hanna Falk of Sweden. As a consolation for the second place finish by Falla, she had earlier in the sprint heats clinched her second consecutive overall World Cup sprint crystal globe. Nilsson took second in the overall sprint standings followed by her teammate Falk. On the men's side Harvey won his first World Cup on home soil much to the excitement of the home crowd. Harvey was followed to the finish line by Norway's Finn Haagen Krogh +0.31 behind. France's Richard Jouve took third +0.94 for his second sprint podium in Canada in the last two seasons. The battle for the men's sprint globe was decided in the mens' semi final when both Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway and Italy's Federico Pellegrino didn't advance to the final. Pellegrino needed 38 points to overtake Klaebo and only managed to pull by 6 points making Klaebo the youngest ever sprint crystal globe winner. Pellegrino took second in the sprint overall and Norway's Sindre Bjoernestad Skar took third in the overall standings. The top 5 men were all separated by just 77 points. Competitions continue tomorrow with the 10/15 km mass start classic competitions. During today's sprint competition Norway's Heidi Weng won her first ever Overall World Cup crystal globe. Full Results Men and Women 2016/17 World Cup Sprints Final Ranking Men and Women Women Men

Mens Under 18 Division II Group B World Championships 2017 in Belgrade (SRB) Day 4 Schedule (18th March 2017) GMT +1 13:00 Iceland vs Spain 16:30 Australia vs Netherlands 20:00 Belgium vs Serbia Livestream

Sweden wins the Alpine Team Event It became tradition that the World Cup Finals host an Alpine Team Event on the transition day between the speed and the tech races. In Aspen, Team Sweden was able to take the win, ahead of Germany and France. A total of eight teams were registered for the parallel event: Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, Norway, Germany, Slovenia and Sweden. Starting in the quarter-finals, four teams managed to qualify for the semi-finals and battle for the podium spots. Italy met France in the small final for the third place, where Adeline Baud Mugnier, Coralie Frasse Sombet, Jean-Baptiste Grange and Julien Lizeroux all laid down a faster time. After winning the gold medal in the Alpine Team Event at the World Championships in St. Moritz, France claims another podium in the discipline. The big final saw Sweden battle against Germany. With Frida Hansdotter winning over Lena Duerr, Stefan Luitz unable to finish giving the win to Matthias Hargin and Marina Waller finishing behind Emelie Wikstroem, the last heat with André Myhrer and Linus Strasser could not change the feat: Sweden earned the win in the Alpine Team Event, giving Sweden a second World Cup victory in this season, after Hansdotter’s success in Flachau. Tomorrow, the men’s Giant Slalom and the ladies’ Slalom are on the schedule, starting from 09.00 MT / 16.00 CET on. Full Results Here Sweden vs Germany Final

The HS 225 competition today,Friday, 17.03.2017, 16:15 CET is cancelled due to difficult weather conditions in Vikersund (NOR). Below is the updated programme: Friday, 17.03.2017 18:00 CET: One Trial Round (insted of 15:00 CET) 19:00 CET: HS 225 Qualification, for Sunday competition (instead of Sat 18.03., 14:15 CET) Saturday, 18.03.2017 15:00 CET: Trial Round 16:15 CET: HS 225 Team Competition (as scheduled) The Sunday programme is as scheduled.

Biathlon Quotas Aloccation Mens 6 - Austria 6 - France 6 - Germany 6 - Norway 6 - Russia ----------------------------------------- 5 - Belarus 5 - Bulgaria 5 - Canada 5 - Czech Republic 5 - Estonia 5 - Finland 5 - Italy 5 - Kazakhstan 5 - Romania 5 - Slovakia 5 - Slovenia 5 - Sweden 5 - Switzerland 5 - Ukraine 5 - United States ------------------------------------------ 4 (1+3) - South Korea ------------------------------------------ 2 - Latvia 2 - Lithuania

Biathlon Final Qualification Standing Mens 1 Germany 7448.0 2 France 7416.0 3 Russia 7192.0 4 Norway 7181.0 5 Austria 6926.0 6 Ukraine 6270.0 7 Czech Republic 6223.0 8 Italy 5556.0 9 Switzerland 5395.0 10 USA 5290.0 11 Bulgaria 5098.0 12 Sweden 4885.0 13 Canada 4625.0 14 Belarus 4483.0 15 Kazakstan 4322.0 16 Slovakia 4203.0 17 Slovenia 4069.0 18 Romania 3408.0 19 Estonia 3393.0 20 Finland 3202.0 21 Latvia 3152.0 22 Lithuania 2988.0 23 Poland 2739.0 24 Japan 2586.0 25 South Korea 1715.0 26 Belgium 1242.0 27 United Kingdom 492.0 28 Croatia 467.0 29 Serbia 162.0 30 Greece 161.0 31 Hungary 70.0 32 Australia 47.0

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualification and Official olympic program http://www.ifsc-climbing.org/images/media-centre/2017/2017_IFSC_Plenary_Assembly_Quebec_City_Olympic_Format.pdf It´s official that there will be 2 events (1 mens and 1 womens) and it will be the Combined event consisting of 2 rounds (qualification and finals). 20 Athletes M and W will participate, and the winner will be the athlete with the lowest cumulative score given by multiplying the rankings from all 3 partial disciplines in this order - Speed, Boulder, Lead.

Biathlon Quotas Aloccation Womens 6 - Czech Republic 6 - France 6 - Germany 6 - Italy 6 - Ukraine ----------------------------------------- 5 - Austria 5 - Belarus 5 - Bulgaria 5 - Canada 5 - Finland 5 - Japan 5 - Kazakhstan 5 - Norway 5 - Poland 5 - Russia 5 - Slovakia 5 - South Korea 5 - Sweden 5 - Switzerland 5 - United States ------------------------------------------ 2 - Lithuania 2 - Slovenia

Biathlon Final Qualification Standing Womens 1 Germany 7951.0 2 France 7646.0 3 Ukraine 6605.0 4 Czech Republic 6547.0 5 Italy 6481.0 6 Norway 6265.0 7 Russia 6139.0 8 Sweden 6034.0 9 Belarus 5683.0 10 Kazakstan 5193.0 11 Switzerland 5101.0 12 Poland 5035.0 13 Austria 4954.0 14 USA 4743.0 15 Finland 4619.0 15 Canada 4619.0 17 Slovakia 4498.0 18 Japan 3608.0 19 Bulgaria 3142.0 20 South Korea 3051.0 21 Slovenia 2969.0 22 Lithuania 2737.0 23 Estonia 2692.0 24 Romania 2086.0 25 China 1584.0 26 Latvia 1228.0 27 United Kingdom 642.0 28 Spain 459.0 29 Hungary 339.0 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina 144.0 31 Moldova 104.0 32 Greece 64.0

Happy St. Patricks day to our Irish friend have a nice day Danny

http://www.insidethegames.biz/index.php/articles/1048201/fukushima-to-host-opening-baseball-and-softball-ties-at-tokyo-2020

Today will start the Men´s Under 18 Division III Group B World Championships. The lowest under 18 world Championship category will be contested during this weekend in Mexico. 3 Nations ( ) will battle for the only available ticket for the next years mens Under 18 division III Group A World Championships Mens Under 18 Division III Group B World Championships 2017 in Mexico City (MEX) Day 1 Schedule (17th March 2017) GMT -6 20:30 Hong Kong vs Mexico Day-Off: South Africa *Tournament format - 3 Teams will play a mini round robin tournament during this weekend. The first ranked nation will qualify for the next years Mens Under 18 Division III Group A. the 2nd and 3rd Nations will stay in the Mens Under 18 Division III Group B also for next year.

15 years old British talent Chiara Bunce will represent Slovakia since this season. FIG approved the nationality change of the athlete. Chiara will represent Slovakia at next EYOF and from next year will participate in senior level source in SVK http://sport.aktuality.sk/c/267051/sportova-gymnastika-slovensku-reprezentaciu-posilni-britka-bunceova/

Mens Under 18 Division II Group B World Championships 2017 in Belgrade (SRB) Day 3 (16th March 2017) GMT +1 13:00 Netherlands vs Belgium 5-2 16:30 Spain vs Australia 1-4 20:00 Serbia vs Iceland 4-2

Weirather wins final SG race for globe, Jansrud collects his A bright sunshine and warm temperatures attracted thousands of spectators for the second race day of the World Cup Finals in Aspen, where both Super-G races were held today. On the ladies side, Tina Weirather claimed both the race win and the globe, while Hannes Reichelt was the fastest of the day on the men’s side, and Kjetil Jansurd collected his third career globe. Tina Weirather and Ilka Stuhec were the only candidates for the super-g season title, with the Slovenian having a 15 points lead over the athlete from Liechtenstein. With bib number 5, Weirather laid down a very solid run, one that no one after her would be able to beat. Even Stuhec, who topped two super-gs this season and earned the downhill globe yesterday, crossed the finish line +0.35 off the pace, to claim second place and offer the discipline season title to Weirather. The daughter of Hanni Wenzel and Harti Weirather can now complete the family collection and bring home her first career globe. Federica Brignone from Italy came in third, grabbing her second career podium in the discipline. On the men’s side, it’s a good thing for Kjetil Jansrud that he secured the globe two weeks ago in Kvitfjell. His three wins at the beginning of the season and good performances allowed him to claim the 2016/17 super-g title. It’s the third career globe for Jansrud, and the sixth super-g globe in a row for Norway. Other athletes played the main roles in the race of the day, as Austria’s Hannes Reichelt was able to grab his 13th career win, ahead of yesterday’s winner Dominik Paris and the duo Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Mauro Caviezel in third place. The World Cup season is now over for the speed skiers, as tomorrow an Alpine Team Event will be held in Aspen, followed by the tech races on the week-end. Tune in at 10.30 MT / 17.30 CET on Friday to follow the exciting parallel event. Full Results Men and Women 2016/17 World Cup Super-G Final Ranking Men and Women Tina Weirather Hannes Reichelt

Stefan Kraft on top again Stefan Kraft of Austria won a great World Cup competition in Trondheim (NOR) on Thursday evening. Under perfect weather conditions, Kraft had jumps of 138 m and 142.5 m (302.0 points) and finished ahead of Norway's Andreas Stjernen (138.5 m and 138 m; 294.3 points) and Andreas Wellinger of Germany. This was the tenth World Cup win for Stefan Kraft, the sixth this season. With this success the 24-year-old extended his lead in the overall World Cup and took back the lead in the Raw Air Tournament. "Today I wanted to make up for the bad result yesterday so I risked everything, already in the trial round. Which is something I normally don't do. Everything went well for me today, It was a great competition. The conditions were fantastic, it was very fair and a lot of fun. Hopefully the conditions will be the same in Vikersund. We will see great flights there and I hope I can fly over the hill size a couple of times", Stefan Kraft said after the competition. With Norway's Andreas Stjernen, a second top ski flyer could get himself in a good position before the upcoming competitions in Vikersund. Stjernen equalled his best World Cup result today, achieved in a Ski Flying event in Oberstdorf 2013: "I'm really happy. It's great to show two good jumps in a competition, especially here on my home hill. It's always difficult to be on the podium, but the level today was extremely high. Finally we had a nice competition during this Raw Air with stable conditions. It was an amazing competition. I haven't thought about Vikersund that much, but the heart is starting to beat faster now. I think it will be fun and hopefully the weather will be as good there as it was here today." Andreas Wellinger also proved his currently great shape. The third place today was his ninth podium finish in the last 10 competitions. "I'm very satisfied, especially with the second jump. It's not easy here on this hill to a perfect take-off, I couldn't do it that well in the first round. It's extremely cool that I could jump that far in the second round and that I made it to the podium. I hope we will have some nice flights in Vikersund. Everything can change really fast, as we saw here yesterday and today. Hopefully Stefan and I will continue to jump on such a high level. Then it will be very exciting", said Wellinger. Only 0.9 points behind Wellinger, Markus Eisenbichler came in fourth and was angry about his lost chance to achieve even more: "I'm not totally satisfied with this competition, I can't be satisfied with such landings because I lose imporant points and so I can't be on the podium. I'm very satisfied with the jumps, but the landings are part of the result too." Poland's Kamil Stoch confirmed yesterday's win with a strong fifth place, followed by Norway's Johann Andre Forfang. Peter Prevc and Richard Freitag, seventh and eighth today, are definitely among the favorites for the Ski Flying competitions in Vikersund on the next three days. Roman Koudelka and Daniel Andre Tande completed the Top 10. The fight for the overall title of the RAW AIR remains extremely interesting. Stefan Kraft now leads with 1237.1 points ahead of Andreas Wellinger (1231.8 points), Markus Eisenbichler (1206.2 points) and Andreas Stjernen (1200.8 points). Nothing is decided yet with 6 jumps left on the three days in Vikersund. The first event in Vikersund will already take place on Friday at 4:15 pm CET with all competitors, there will be no qualification and only one competition round. Stefan Kraft is also in the lead in the overall World Cup with 1420 points. He is followed by Kamil Stoch (1334 points) and Daniel Andre Tande of Norway (1181 points). Andreas Wellinger is fourth with 988 points Full Results Here

FIS SNOWBOARDING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men's Parallel Giant Slalom Final Results PROMMEGGER Andreas -Big Final KARL Benjamin -Big Final GALMARINI Nevin -Small Final ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Women's Parallel Giant Slalom Final Results LEDECKA Ester -Big Final KUMMER Patrizia -Big Final TUDEGESHEVA Ekaterina -Small Final Ledecka and Prommegger prevail in world champs parallel giant slalom After scoring Silver and Gold, in yesterday's parallel slalom event, respectively, Ester Ledecka (CZE) and Andreas Prommegger (AUT) came out victorious in today's parallel giant slalom race of the Sierra Nevada 2017 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships. Ledecka earned the title ahead of Patrizia Kummer (SUI) and Ekaterina Tudegesheva (RUS) while Prommegger once again beat teammate Benjamin Karl in the repetition of yesterday's men's final. Nevin Galmarini (SUI) rounded out the podium as third. As yesterday's first of two alpine snowboard events of the 12th FIS Snowboard World Championships wouldn't have had enough in store to talk about for a couple of days, the world's best raceboarders took it serious on the race slope under a blue bird sky again to add some more chapters to the history books. And of course, it was the men's ultimate heat which impressed the most as both finalists had been the main actors of yesterday's event already. Sharing the room when on tour for quite some years now, being long-time friends who push each other in every competition as well as training session as soon as the season's preparations kick off for Team Snowboard Austria in fall, Andreas Prommegger and Benjamin Karl delivered once again the best proof why this sport is as exciting as it gets. Going down the parallel flagged course head to head from start to bottom, Prommegger crossed the finish line only 0.12 seconds ahead of Karl therefore becoming the third ever alpine snowboarder to win both, the PSL and PGS event, in one year. So far, only Jasey Jay Anderson (Whistler, Canada, 2005) and Benjamin Karl (La Molina, Spain, 2011) had been able to pull off this feat. “I don't know how it feels to be a double world champion, it will take some time to realise this. But as everybody comes by I guess it has to be something special”, he joked. “But seriously, I came here to win a medal for sure. Everyone who knows my history knows how much I deserved this as I came close quite a few times to medal. But you know, you cannot force it. At major events it just has to click. And that's what just happened. In addition, it was the second time in a row that the father of two from St. Johann denied Karl to becoming the first ever male snowboarder to win five world championships titles. Currently, Karl, who has claimed at least one medal in every major event he has attended in since 2009, is sitting on the shared first rank of the multi wins table together with Anderson. However, the father of one took it as it came and didn't look back: “You know, I still have enough time, I'm only 31 years now. Retirement is a question of success not of your age. And with results like those here, I guess I can give it a few more shots although it's a pity of course as you don't get those chances often. But I have nothing to complain.” Same for Galmarini. After having been bumped off the podium yesterday as fourth being defeated by only a few hundredths of a second in both, the semi and the battle for third, the Swiss top racer finally took his first world championships medal in his tenth start beating Radoslav Yankov (BUL) in the small final of the men's competition. “Placing fourth yesterday, man, the pressure was intense today. Of course you try to edit yesterday out. It has been a new day, and I knew that I'm a bit better in the PGS event, but nevertheless, it was really hard yesterday, so hard you would like to bite in your board. So, I'm happy that I took a medal, and I'm proud of myself that I was able to get something positive out of yesterday. Bronze is like Gold for me.” Over in the women's event, it was Ledecka who earned the Gold one day after being awarded with a precious Silver. The 2015 PSL world champion from the Czech Republic, who has been competing in the St. Moritz FIS Ski World Championships last month already, earned her career's second beating 2014 Olympic PGS champion Patrizia Kummer (SUI) on the line with the tiny advantage of 0.19 seconds. “This is like a dream come true. This is really great. It was my goal to compete in both world championships this year, skiing and snowboarding, and this is a great bonus. I have two medals. I'm happy,” Ledecka said. More than ten years after snatching Gold in the 2007 world champs in Arosa (SUI), Ekaterina Tudegesheva held the upper hand on Ramona Hofmeister (GER) in the battle for third earning her fourth world championships medal. The Sierra Nevada 2017 Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships continue tomorrow with the Big Air semis (1 PM CET) and finals (7:30 PM CET). Click here for an update on the TV times. Full Results Men and Women Ester Ledecka 2017 Womens Parallel Giant Slalom World Champion and Andreas Prommegger 2017 Mens Parallel Giant Slalom World Champion

50 days to go Cologne/Paris 2017 Event full of highlights awaits you Getting closer to the start of the 2017 #IIHFWorlds! From tournament highlights to fantasy hockey and prediction games, will have plenty to offer for fans. Whether you are attending the tournament in Cologne and Paris or watching at home, stay tuned!

@bestmen Thank you dude, you just made my day Shoukran

WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY CHALLENGE CUP OF ASIA 2017 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kiwi girls win in Bangkok Finish Challenge Cup of Asia ahead of Thailand The New Zealand U18 women’s national team, which competed internationally for the first time, won the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia that also included senior national teams from six Asian countries that are not involved in the IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship program. The Kiwi girls had an average age of 16 compared to 28 years for the team of host country Thailand, which finished in second place, but it dominated the tournament in five games and edged Thailand 4-3 midway the tournament in a game that eventually decided about first place. It was a close game with a 28-25 shot on goal advantage for the young New Zealanders. And the outcome must have annoyed the Thai women since they were leading 2-0 midway the game after two goals from Nuchanat Ponglerkdee, who eventually scored a hat trick and was the undisputed scoring leader of the tournament with 27 goals and 18 assists in... six games! The New Zealanders didn’t have the same firepower and were second in goal difference throughout the tournament but they scored the important goals in the second half of the game against the Thai. In front of 237 fans at The Rink Ice Arena, which is located on the seventh floor of the CentralPlaza Grand Rama 9 shopping mall in the Ratchadapisek area of Bangkok, power-play goals from Beth Scott and Jana Kivell before the end of the second period tied the game at two. The teams continued to exchange goals in the first five minutes of the third period. Ponglerkdee tied the game at three just 12 seconds after a goal from New Zealand’s Kirstin Gerken but two minutes later Scott scored her second power-play marker of the game and this 4-3 goal stayed as the game-winner. The New Zealand girls defended the lead while the Thai made their comeback attempt difficult with four minor penalties during the last ten minutes of play. Scott was second in goal scoring at the tournament and fifth in points behind four Thai players with 17 goals and 19 points. For the rest of the tournament both the New Zealanders and Thai dominated their opponents. Singapore was the best of the rest by not losing double digits while beating the other four opponents including fourth-ranked India (9-1), newcomer Philippines (6-2), the United Arab Emirates (16-2) and Malaysia (4-1). India earned its fourth place after its first-ever win in an international game, 4-3 against the Philippines in their second match of the tournament, and by following up with a 5-4 victory against Malaysia on the last day. The Philippines also had six points. After starting with three losses they earned their first win against Malaysia (3-1) and later beat the United Arab Emirates 3-2. The bottom half of the standings saw fierce competition as no team finished without a win. The Emirati women finished in sixth place with their only win coming on the second day, 6-4 against India, while Malaysia started the tournament with a 5-4 overtime victory against the Emirates but didn’t collect further points throughout the tournament. The Tournament Directorate named the Philippines Ma Jessica Cabili as best goaltender, Mei Wah Wan from Malaysia was the best defender and Wen Lin Lim from Singapore best forward. Indian forward Tsewang Chuskit was voted MVP after scoring six goals for India. Results Thread The seven teams at the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia pose for a joint team photo after the closing ceremony.

Back to EBEL Medvescak Zagreb plans to switch leagues Full house during a KHL game of Medvescak Zagreb. Croatia’s leading hockey club, Medvescak Zagreb, is set to compete in Austria’s cross-border EBEL next season after four campaigns in the KHL. The team, which also played in the EBEL prior to stepping up to the KHL in 2017, was officially accepted as a member on 15 March. Towards the end of last season Medvescak faced some well-documented financial problems and, after a fire sale of players in the closing weeks of the campaign, suited up just 14 players in its last games. With the team heavily reliant on sponsorship to provide a sustainable budget, the decision to return to a league closer to home than the pan-Eurasian KHL was anticipated some time before this week’s announcement by both Medvescak and the EBEL. Erste Bank Eishockey Liga president Peter Mennel welcomed the team back to the competition. “Medvescak was part of the league for four years and left lasting memories,” he said. “I’m happy that our current teams have voted in favour of the return. Fans can get ready for some more great games at Dom Sportova.” Club president Damir Gojanovic talked up the prospect of a bright future for Medvescak in the EBEL. In an interview on the club’s website he said: “We will have an opportunity to compete against the best teams from Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. I believe we will be able to gather a competitive team and that our fans will enjoy good games and good results. I am grateful to the EBEL clubs and league Presidency for accepting our application. “The EBEL was the starting point of the revitalization of Medvescak and without the league, the new-look Medvescak that we have today would not exist.” Gojanovic also confirmed that the club was working hard to resolve various outstanding debts and – despite criticism from some quarters – insisted that the long-term future was secure. “We will meet all the obligations,” he added. “I'm sorry some are delayed, but that is the reality we live in... But, I can assure you, the club will not collapse or disappear due to those obligations. Furthermore, supported by our partners we will enter EBEL with a clear and viable financial plan.” Medvescak’s four seasons in the KHL saw the team – and its enthusiastic fans at Zagreb’s Dom Sportova – win friends across the competition. However, results on the ice were less impressive, with the team making the playoffs just once in four seasons. Gojanovic, though, regarded the experience as a success and was thrilled to have brought some of the world’s best players to Zagreb. “Dom Sportova witnessed the best possible hockey we could see or imagine and there is nothing better than it outside of North America,” he said. “Medvescak welcomed some of the biggest and best in world – clubs like SKA, CSKA, Dynamo Moscow, Spartak, all true institutions of hockey, and players like Radulov, Kovalchuk, Mozyakin or Cheechoo, to name but a few. We brought some great players to Zagreb. If someone had told me we could do something like this in Zagreb, I’d have laughed in his face. But we did it, and our fans got to see top-class hockey.” Alexander Medvedev, then the KHL president who welcomed Medvescak into the league, also felt that the club offered plenty during its time. “Medvescak created a competitive team in a North American style and offered a good test for our teams,” he told championat.com. “Let’s not forget how Medvescak started out, hammering CSKA 7-1 in its first game. “But the Croatian business community could not generate the kind of money to help the team compete effectively in the league, and trying to subsist on bread and water isn’t a realistic way forward for any team. The way Medvescak had to sell off almost all its players to clear its debts, and played the last couple of games with just two lines, is far from ideal. On the one hand, the club fulfilled its obligations and completed the season; on the other, the necessary foundations to play in the KHL, sadly, disappeared.” For the KHL, the news comes at the end of a season where the league’s future has been the subject of much debate. Last year, comments from KHL President Dmitri Chernyshenko about the possibility of reducing the number of teams in the competition prompted a flurry of speculation, although the league was quick to point out that this was merely one of many options under consideration as the organization looked at how to develop in future. Meanwhile, other reports from Russia suggest that Medvescak’s place next season might go to a second team in St. Petersburg, a representative from Estonia or an ambitious new franchise based in London, England. Although the club announced to return to the Central European competition, Medvescak head of media, Ranko Vucevic, told Russian website championat.com that there was still a possibility of KHL action in Croatia. “The deadline for clubs to submit applications [to play in next season’s] KHL is 30th April,” he said. “Any application for Medvescak to play in the KHL... depends on the responses of our sponsors and especially on whether there will be further cooperation with our partners in Russia. “This week’s confirmation of participation in the EBEL in no way effects our plans for the KHL. The competition in which Medvescak will play next season will be announced by the end of May.” However, Mennel’s statement on the EBEL website continued: “The participation of Medvescak Zagreb stands firm.” Prior to joining the KHL, Medvescak spent four seasons in the EBEL. On two occasions, it reached the playoff semi-finals and in 2012 it finished second in the regular-season table. The club’s youth team still plays in the junior section of that competition.

Peter Fill, Ilka Stuhec claim downhill crystal globes The Italian men's team had much to celebrate on Wednesday in Aspen, Colo., as Dominik Paris won the last downhill race of the season and his teammate Peter Fill claimed his second consecutive discipline crystal globe, edging out Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud by just 23 points in the final standings. Paris also finished the season ranked third in downhill. "The last race wasn't too easy for me, I was far behind the other guys which actually probably motivated me for this race," said Paris, who selected bib No. 1 due to the weather. "I knew it would be warm, and so I'm happy I made the decision to take No. 1. The snow only got softer." Fill finished the race in second place to secure the second downhill title of his career after Jansrud, who led the standings heading into the day, finished 11th in the race and second in the discipline standings. Swiss Carlo Janka rounded out the race podium in third. "It was hard. It was good skiing. Again, I was every time close on the victory. No victory this year in downhill, but in the end, I pick up the thing that counts, and that's the nicest thing," said Fill. And today, a special day for the Italians with Dominik's win and to have second and then, the globe. I think we have the best team – small team, but a good team. Thank you to the whole team. They work really well and the love, and they push us to go faster, and we see the results. So, thank you all the team, service guy, sponsors, thank you!" In the ladies' downhill, Slovenia's Ilka Stuhec won both the race and her career first discipline title over Italian Sofia Goggia, who finished third in the race, by a convincing 137 points. "It’s amazing. I mean it’s been an incredible season and right now that this [globe] is here, it’s heavy. Everything else will come later, I guess," said Stuhec. "I wanted to do like every other time this season like ski the best way possible and do my best and we’ll see what comes. And ending the season with a win and a globe, it’s pretty good." Lindsey Vonn slid into the air fence in the finish and had to be extricated by race staff but not before she claimed the second spot on the podium. Despite not participating in the end of the winter due to injury, Lara Gut finished third in the downhill season standings. The ladies and men each race a super-G on Thursday at World Cup Finals in Aspen. Full Results Men and Women 2016/17 World Cup Downhill Final Ranking Men and Women Dominik Paris Ilka Stuhec