hckošice

Rydzek on top, Frenzel unlucky in Chaux-Neuve Johannes Rydzek has effectively ended Eric Frenzel’s winning streak in the Nordic Combined World Cup. Rydzek took the win with an advantage of 2.8 seconds on teammate Fabian Rießle at the finish line. Japanese Akito Watabe claimed rank three (+5.7). Eric Frenzel ended up on the fourth position after his pole broke in a racing manoeuvre with Johannes Rydzek on the last lap. Jarl Riiber claimed another jumping win. 112 metres from gate 13 meant a total of 139 points for the Norwegian, which put him 46 seconds ahead of American Ben Berend for the cross-country race. Berend had a great performance and also had 112 metres to show for but he jumped from gate 16. This gave him 127.5 points. Eric Frenzel set himself up promisingly with position three and had 53 seconds to make up on Riiber. 109.5 metres gave the German 125.8 points. Candidates for the podium in Chaux-Neuve were Fabian Rießle who was happy with his 109.5 metre jump and intermediate sixth position. With 123.7 points, he had a disadvantage of one minute and one second and was definitely an athlete to watch on the track, as well as his teammate Johannes Rydzek who presents himself in a fantastic cross-country shape at the moment. One minute and 15 seconds were well within the realm of doable for the reining World Champion from Germany. Also teammate Björn Kircheisen with +1:09 and Olympic Champion Jørgen Graabak with +1:22 were not to be dismissed. Japan’s Akito Watabe, who claimed a podium last weekend and Berni Gruber from Austria, who returned from a sickness break, also had good starting positions five and seven (+1:01 and +1:02). Full Results Here

Canada's Harvey on a roll with second win in a row Canada's Alex Harvey is on a roll and has won his second World Cup competition in a row. After winning last weekend's team sprint in Toblach with Len Valjas he followed it up today with a victory in the 15 km free technique interval competition in Ulricehamn, Sweden. It was Harvey's first ever World Cup win in an interval start distance competition (not including a tour stage prologue). An early leader Harvey hung on for a 6.0 second win ahead of Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby who made up time over the final kilometers. As in the ladies' competition the crowd was treated to a Swedish athlete in third place and in this case it was Marcus Hellner +14.3 seconds back. In the final kilometers - despite lacking any major climbs - the competition saw many changes in the battle for third place. Hellner in the end beat out Dario Cologna (SUI) by 0.4 seconds. Daniel Stock (NOR) competing in his first World Cup outside of Norway was 5th just 1.9 seconds behind Hellner. The top 10 athletes were separated by just 34 seconds with 7 nations represented. Competitions continue tomorrow with the ladies 4 x 5 km relay and the men's 4 x 7.5 km relay. Full Results Here

Dominik Paris masters the Streif and celebrates thrid golden "Gams" Kitzbuehel 2017 has its downhill winner, and his name is Dominik Paris. The Italian is ahead of the French duo Valentin Giraud-Moine and Johan Clarey. It was a fantastic day on the Streif in Kitzbuehel ! The course presented itself in a perfect shape, the weather allowed to start from the very top with a bright sunshine and approximately 50’000 spectators came to watch the show on site. And as in 2013, Dominik Paris is the one standing at the very top of the podium. “To win twice at the Hahnenkamm is an incredibly special and brilliant experience. I was lucky today, as some of my competitors didn’t handle the Hausberg section as well as I did – that is what decided the race at the end of the day. Let’s see if we can top the party of 2013.” In second place, Valentin Giraud Moine surprised everyone and confirmed his talent on one of the toughest course in the world. The 24 years old skier was in the spotlight in Kvitfjell last year, where he skied to second position, and the 4th place in the second training was definitively a hint for his excellent feeling on the Streif. "I felt confident after the summer. I was not very lucky at the start of the season but now is is paying off and I am really happy to make a good run today and I am really, really, happy to make it here in Kitzbuehel. It's the most dangerous race in the world and it's incredible to be here." His teammate Johan Clarey has more experience already, as he has been on the circuit for twelve years already and mastered the Streif eight times. So much experience, that he even considered retiring with three career podiums in Kvitfjell (2nd in 2014) and Val Gardena (3rd in 2013 and 2009). "I've had some good results here; I was fourth last year and fifth a few years ago. I said to myself last year when I was fourth, 'You have to be on the podium.' I was almost retired at the end of last season and I said to myself that I have to do one more season to live Kitzbuehel again and weeks like this and now I'm on the podium. I'm speechless. We are two French on the podium, it's the best day I have lived on the World Cup circus." The speed events are now over on the Streif and tomorrow the zick-zack skiers will take over the Ganslern hill for a slalom starting at 10.30 CET for the first run and 13.30 CET for the decisive run. Full Results Here Dominik Paris

yep, it was too nice to be true

Lindsey Vonn scores comeback win in Garmisch-Partenkirchen downhill It was an emotional comeback for Lindsey Vonn at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on Saturday in only her second race since returning from injury. The American proved to herself that she is still capable of collecting wins by posting the fasting run of the day, 0.15 seconds quicker than Swiss Lara Gut in second and 0.48 seconds speedier than home crowd favorite Viktoria Rebensburg in third. This World Cup victory, the 77th in Vonn's career, came a day after she struggled in the training run on the slope and missed what proved to be a critical gate to her success the following day. "I didn’t really try very hard to make the gate yesterday. So I knew as long as I stood on it and I gave myself a little bit of extra room just so that I carried the speed through that section. It wasn’t really in my head too much," Vonn said. She teared up in the finish area immediately after seeing the green light. “It feels amazing. I just got to the bottom, and I cried. Worked really hard to come back and you know, I feel like sometimes I come back so quickly, everyone forgets how much time and energy, blood, sweat and tears it takes to come back without any training and just jump in there. And I had to trust myself and my team and my technician, and we all did our best and today was just amazing." In Vonn's return to competition in Zauchensee, Austria, she finished 13th. "I’m so happy, but it only took me two races to get back on the top step. I mean, honestly, I wasn’t sure after Zauchensee how long it would take me and I proved to myself today that all the work that I put in is really coming through," she concluded. Although Gut had a slight mistake toward the bottom of the course, she was glad to pull off the close second-place finish, further demonstrating her podium consistency this season. It was the first downhill podium of her career at the German resort. "I’m pretty happy because I know I can be close to the win all the time if I ski the way I can," Gut noted. The German crowd was awed by Rebensburg's return to the downhill podium for the first time in a year, since the Garmisch-Partenkirchen race last season when she also finished third. "I knew from the training that I felt pretty well down there, but the run didn’t feel that great beause I think it was faster than yesterday. So the turns were pushing way more than yesterday also. Then, I thought, I’m really down, but it was fast, I tried to keep the skis running, and yeah, I’m pretty happy about it," Rebensburg said. "I mean it’s always so nice to be on the podium. For sure, it’s been quite a while in downhill. I think it was maybe a year last time. I don’t know. So it’s super to be up on the podium again. For sure, now we [are at the] end of January, so I think it’s a good time also to be on the podium." Rebensburg added that she hopes to carry this momentum into the upcoming FIS Alpine World Ski Championships which will be held in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, in February. World Cup newcomer Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway crashed toward the bottom of the course and had to be evacuated from the slope with a sled. She will be evaluated for what are suspected to be minor injuries. Full Results Here Lindsey Vonn

Bjoergen returns with victory in Ulricehamn Norway's Marit Bjoergen has won her 104th individual World Cup with her victory in the 10 km free technique interval start competition in Ulricehamn, Sweden. It was her first competition since La Clusaz prior to Christmas and today she won by just 10.7 seconds ahead of Finland's Krista Parmakoski. Parmakoski continues with her impressive season and appears to have recovered well from her Tour de Ski efforts. In third place to the excitement of the home crowd was Sweden's Charlotte Kalla +24.9 back from Bjoergen. It went right to the finish line to know who was third place today as Kalla crossed just 0.8 seconds ahead of Norway's Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen. Hometown girl Hanna Falk recorded her best ever World Cup distance result with an 8th place finish +36.4 seconds off the lead. She was the early leader with bib 10 and stayed in the leader's chair until Jacobsen crossed the line with bib 30. Full Results Here

now 13th because Ricarda Haaser finished 10th wirg BIB 53 !!!

Yuki Ito again on top Japan´s Yuki Ito also won the second competition of the FIS World Cup Ladies Ski Jumping in Zao. In front of her home crowd Ito jumped 100,0 and 94,5 meters and got 227,0 points. Sara Takanashi and Maren Lundby finished 2nd and 3rd. Ito thankfull for support Yuki Ito said after the competition: „I am so glad I could win again. We´ve had a fantastic audience today and the support gave me so much strength.“ In front of more than 5.000 spectators Sara Takanashi celebrated her comeback on the podium after leaving out twice in the last competitions. Her jumps to 99,5 and 94,5 meters been worth 226,2 points and gave her an advantage of 5,1 points on Norway´s Maren Lundby. Hard work for Takanashi Takanashi said: „This weekend was hard work for me. My jumping is not going so easy right now. I am very happy that I could finish on the podium today and will try to continue my work next weekend.“ Maren Lundby performed jumps to 100,0 and 92,0 meters and was also happy with the result: „I was pretty disappointed after my final jump yesterday. I am glad I could show two good jumps today.“ Malsiner strong again With 219,4 points Italy´s Manuela Malsiner missed her second podium only by 1,7 points and came in 4th with 97,0 and 96,0 meters. Katharina Althaus was the best German finishing 5th with 213,3 points ahead of Slovenia´s Ema Klinec with 211,7 points. Althaus´ teammate Carina Vogt came in 7th ahead of Irina Avvakumova of Russia. In almost perfect ski jumping conditions Kaori Iwabuchi was the third Japanese in the top ten and celebrated her best result of the season finishing 9th ahead of Slovenia´s Maja Vtic and the best Austrian Jaqueline Seifriedsberger on 10 and 11. Three Americans scoring The American ladies Nita Englund, Sarah Hendrickson and Abby Ringquist finished on places 14, 16 and 22. Lea Lemare and Lucile Morat scored for France on places 25 and 28. In the overall world cup Sara Takanashi is in the lead with 815 points ahead of Yuki Ito (732) and Maren Lundby (517). Next stage of the Ladies World Cup is Rasnov (ROU) next weekend. Full Results Here

Ester Ledecká 12th with BIB 46

This is SPARTA ! http://www.championshockeyleague.net/video/this-is-sparta-a-fan-documentary/3824

Mens Under 20 Division III World Championships in Dunedin (NZL) Day 4 (21st January 2017) Semifinals 17:00 1Bvs2A Turkey vs Iceland 3-2 20:30 1Avs2B China vs New Zealand 11-2 5th-8th Places Semifinals 10:00 3Avs4B Israel vs South Africa 9-0 13:30 3Bvs4A Bulgaria vs Chinese Taipei 6-1

never heard about "ocean stars" ? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/04/the-cool-runnings-of-the-refugee-crisis-somalias-bandy-team-at-home-on-ice

[hide] Knockout Round January 21st - January 29th, 2017 16 Nations, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Bronze Medal Match and Gold Medal Match. Round of 16 Date and Venue Team 1 T1 T2 Team 2 January 21st 2017, h. 16:00, La halle de glace Olympique, Albertville Norway 3 Macedonia January 21st 2017, h. 18:00, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille France 7 Iceland January 21st 2017, h. 20:45, AccorHotels Arena, Paris Russia 1 Slovenia January 21st 2017, h. 20:45, Park&Suites Arena, Montpellier Brazil 3 Spain January 22nd 2017, h. 16:00, Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille Belarus 3 Sweden January 22nd 2017, h. 16:00, La halle de glace Olympique, Albertville Hungary 4 Denmark January 22nd 2017, h. 18:00, AccorHotels Arena, Paris Germany 2 Qatar January 22nd 2017, h. 20:45, Park&Suites Arena, Montpellier Croatia 3 Egypt [/hide]

Rukajarvi and Parrot top Europe's most prestigious snowboard event Enni Rukajarvi (FIN) and Max Parrot (CAN) have earned their chapters in the history books winning the LAAX OPEN 2017 slopestyle event which was part of the Snowboard Freestyle World Cup tour for the very first time and featured a field able to throw down the best and creative tricks. And that's what happened on the 500 metres long and creative course at Crap Sogn Gion. Facing superb conditions and a blue bird sky, 26-year-old Rukajarvi, who had already dominated the semi finals, brought down a smashing second run to secure her career's second win in four years. The 2014 Olympic silver medallist and first ever FIS slopestyle world champion landed a boardslide to pretzel out, switch backside 180 mute, frontside 720 tail, backside 540 stalefish, cab 720 stalefish, half cab up frontside 50-50 and a front board to fakie to finish things off earning a score of 84.83. “Winning hear is nice,” she said. “I'm really happy. I really liked the course, and the atmosphere is always great, too. That helps. It's a good vibe riding here.” Current World Cup leader Anna Gasser who is in the form of her life finished second with a score of 83.71 extending her World Cup podium streak to six in six starts. “It was a very hard contest on a very high level. I knew I had to risk a lot to make it on the podium. Maybe it would have worked out for the win if I wouldn't have screwed up my last trick on the final rail feature. But I'm very happy with my second rank finish as the world's best did compete today,” stated the 26-year-old from Carinthia who is looking good to bring home her career's first World Cup title – not only in slopestyle but also in the big air and the overall snowboard freestyle race for the Crystal Globe. Olympic slopestyle champion and 2016 LAAX OPEN title holder Jamie Anderson (USA; 81.50) who was in first place after the first of three runs rounded out the women's podium of the 2016-17 slopestyle World Cup season's second tour stop as third. Although she failed to bring down her second and third run, Anderson, who had sustained a cut right above her right eye during competition, underlined the importance of the event for the snowboard scene: “It was a great contest, really progressive. It was fun to be a part of it. Unfortunately I fell in both of my last two runs which was a bit of a bummer. I love the park in Laax, it has always a cool and creative set-up.” Canadian boys repeat historical triumph In the men's event, Canada Snowboard once again left its mark in the Swiss Alps. After five riders had placed in the top-5 in last year's event, the Canuck roster did its home country proud with a podium sweep led by Max Parrot. The man in black himself had nailed it already in the second run (89.00) but was able to cement his position on the top spot with a 50-50 to backlip, backside rodeo 900, cab double cork 1260 mute, frontside triple cork 1440, backside triple cork 1620 mute, half cab up frontside 50-50 to frontside 180 out and a cab hardway 270 to front board to 270 out. “Winner of the LAAX OPEN 2017 – that sounds sweet. I'm really happy. I was able to bring down a run which I was aiming for with the backside triple 16 at the end. So, I'm really stoked to win this event for the first time,” explained Parrot who secured his career's fifth and second of the season after having triumphed in the big air event in Copper Mountain earlier this winter. Earning a score of 91.58 in his final run Parrot set 2016 LAAX OPEN champion Mark McMorris – the last man dropping in after Seb Toots had pulled out of the contest due to a heavy crash yesterday – under pressure. The 2014 Sochi bronze medallist tried to step up his game with a backside triple 16, too, but couldn't land his run as clean as he wanted to finally placing second with a score of 88.96 for his 50-50 to backlip to fakie, cab 720 nose, switch backside 1260 stalefish, frontside triple cork 1440 mute, backside triple cork 1440 indy, frontside 180 up, switch boardslide to regular and a final backside 180 up to switch 50-50 to cab 360 out. However, McMorris was still pleased with the result: “I'm happy with the way I rode, and I landed the run I wanted to. You always learn and that's good. It's good to be part of this contest. Staying in the top one and two over the whole course of the event is pretty good. I'm really happy about the second.” Last year's LAAX OPEN runner-up Tyler Nicholson celebrated his career's third podium, the first in slopestyle after finishing twice in second position in the big air events in Quebec (2015, 2016) thanks to a lipslide to front board, backside rodeo japan, cab 1440 stalefish, switch backside 1260 japan, frontside 1440 mute, backside 360 up, frontside 50-50 to backside 180 out and a half cab to 50-50 to frontside 180 out. As four more teammates had also made it to the men's finals it seems obvious that the Canadian roster is doing things right at the moment. “Our team is very well organised. We have pretty good camps which helps us a lot, and we get a really great support with physios and couple of coaches. It's an amazing team support, and I guess that's why we are doing so well right now,” Parrot pointed out. It will be interesting to see if Team Canada can keep the momentum in the next slopestyle events at Seiser Alm (ITA) and Mammoth Mountain (USA) before finally flying home for the Snowjamboree in Quebec City mid of February. The snowboard freestyle World Cup tour continues tomorrow with the halfpipe finals of the LAAX OPEN starting at 1:00 PM CET with the three run, best one count finals streamed live worldwide from run two on (1:45 PM CET) on the event's homepage. Full Results Women and Men

Knock-out Round of the mens Under 20 Div. III scheduled this weekend. the most important and followed part is ofc the battle for the promotion, it will be interesting to see if both favs of the tournament, China and Turkey, will manage to win their semifinal and advance to the expected Grand final. Mens Under 20 Division III World Championships in Dunedin (NZL) Day 4 Schedule (21st January 2017) GMT +13 Semifinals 17:00 1Bvs2A Turkey vs Iceland 20:30 1Avs2B China vs New Zealand 5th-8th Places Semifinals 10:00 3Avs4B Israel vs South Africa 13:30 3Bvs4A Bulgaria vs Chinese Taipei Livestreams

Neverending misery... our mens lost 2 places and are after todays another epic collapse now 17th in the Nations Cup !!! they achieved the impossible and tied the disastrous ranking of our girls...disaster. total disaster

Matthias Mayer wins the Hahnenkamm Super-G The 77th edition of the Hahnenkammrennen officially kicked off in Kitzbuehel with a super-g held on the legendary Streif today. Matthias Maier clocked the fastest time, followed by Christof Innerhorfer in second and Beat Feuz in third. The Swiss skier crossed the finish line in pole position thanks to a strong performance especially in the Hausberg Traverse, that allowed him to carry down his speed all the way to the finish. After finishing last years’ super-g season with a win in St. Moritz and a 6th position in the cup standing, Beat Feuz failed to perform at its best in super-g so far, finishing 6th, 14th and 11th. This podium in Kitzbuehel, his 3rd in career (2nd in AC in 2012, 2nd in DH in 2016, 3rd in SG in 2017) gives him the confidence he needed. “I have three „Gams“ trophies at home now. I am certainly not planning to complain about it not being a gold one again. The Hausbergkante was the deciding section of today’s race.” With bib number 8, Christof Innerhofer is the surprise guest of this podium. In addition to early season struggles (best placement is a 10th place in Super-G in Val Gardena), the South Tyrolean crashed in Santa Caterina and had to sit out the following races in Wengen due to strong knee pain. He came to Kitzbuehel with the intention to try his best, but without high expectations. This ended up making his day and his second place in the Kitzbuehel super-g even more pleasurable. “An unbelievable day. Not even I thought I would end up on the winner’s podium today, because I wasn’t sure if I could compete at all after my injury. Maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t give it too much head space.” Austria has been waiting for a super-g win at Kitzubehel for six years now and today Olympic Champion Matthias Mayer put an end to this drought. Getting his second super-g win in Kitzbuehel, where he already podiumed in this discipline in 2015, is a dream come true for the 27 year old skier from Gerlitzen – Kaernten. “It is an incredible feeling for me to top the winner’s podium, especially after my injury. After already taking two silver „Gams“ trophies home, I am delighted they have now been given a golden brother.” Tomorrow, the traditional Hahnenkamm-Abfahrt will take place on the Streif, definitely one of the toughest downhills in the world. The weather forecast is excellent and over 40’000 are expected to visit the event, starting at 11.30 CET. Make sure you don’t miss it. Full Results Here Matthias Mayer

we´ll see..this whole situation is really frustrating and I´m really starting to have doubts about how it will all turns out.

Japanese victory in Zao Yuki Ito won the first individual competition of the FIS World Cup Ladies Ski Jumping in Zao (JPN). The local hero got for her jumps to 89,5 and 94,0 meters 213,6 points. That gave her an advantage of 0,3 points on Manuela Malsiner of Italy, who surprisingly finished second. Third place went to Russia´s Irina Avvakumova. Ito is cheering - Takanashi beaten While Yuki Ito was screaming out her joy after the competition, teammate Sara Takanashi had to suffer another defeat. Finishing 5th she missed out on her 50th World Cup win already in the third attempt. At least she performed a great comeback from 10th place after round one. Yuki Ito on the other hand was overjoyed after her second World Cup victory: „I am very happy that I was able to win both in Sapporo and now in Zao. The conditions have not been easy and I was late at the take off in the first round. But the result is great and I want to try to show my best jumps on Sunday.“ Malsiner with historic result for Italy In heavy snowfall and difficult wind conditions Manuela Malsiner put the cherry on top of her good shape of the past weeks and celebrated her first World Cup podium. 90,5 and 93,0 meters also brought the best ever World Cup result for the Italian Ladies team. Malsiner was almost lost of words after the ceremony: „It is unbelievable. I would have never expected that. It is a great moment“, she said with tears of joy in her eyes. On third place Irina Avvakumova confirmed her consistent performances since the beginning of the year and awarded herself with the third podium in 2017. After her jumps to 88,5 and 92,0 meters and 210,6 points she said: „I am feeling great, the weather is bad and it couldn´t have ended any better today.“ Lundby cant take advantage of pole position Avvakumova was aware that she was a little lucky in the final round and benefited of a mistake of Maren Lundby. The Norwegian, who won five days ago in Sapporo, was in the lead after the first round and very much expected to bring home her third World Cup victory. A little mistake in her final jump brought her down to 6th place – and Avvakumova on the podium. Vogt getting closer Moving closer and closer to the top three Germany´s Carina Vogt finished fourth only 1,8 points behind Avvakumova after three fifth place in the last competitions. Sara Takanashi consoled herself with the longest jump of the day to 95,0 meters in the final round and scored 208,3 points on fifth place, 0,6 points ahead of Maren Lundby. Yuka Seto, with 201,0 points on seventh place, was the third Japanese finishing in the top ten. Slovenia twice in top ten Behind her Ema Klinec and Spela Rogelj came in 8th and 9th and saved a descend result for the Slovenian team. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz couldn´t quite confirm her training performances and finished 10th. Sarah Hendrickson struggled with the conditions, especially at the landing in fresh snow but still managed to secure a good 11th place for the United States ahead of teammate Nita Englund. Svenja Wuerth and Katharina Althaus came in 13th and 14th ahead of the two Slovenia’s Eva Logar and Nika Kriznar. Taylor Henrich was the only Canadian in the final round and finished 20th, Lea Lemare and Daniela Haralambie scored for France and Romania on 25 and 27. The second competition in Zao will start on Sunday at 9.00 am (CET). Full Results Here

Good match today of the Good Angels Košice against Flammes Carolo winner of the group stage of Eurocup, but nothing is over and the second leg can still be difficult

Algeria

Three countries run for 2021 Two bids, three countries. The 2017 IIHF Annual Congress in May in Cologne will decide who will host the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Finland wants to bring the World Championship back to Tampere and Helsinki while the other application is a joint bid of Minsk, Belarus, and Riga, Latvia. The proposed dates of both bids are 7 to 23 May 2021. The IIHF members will allocate the event during the 2017 IIHF Annual Congress, set to take place 18-20 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany, during the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. New Tampere Arena as Finland’s main venue Tampere is one of the largest cities in Finland with a population of 225,000 in the city and almost a million in the radius of 100 kilometres. The new 13,000-seat Tampere Arena that will open in 2020 as the most modern multipurpose arena in Northern Europe is the main venue of the bid. It will conveniently be located in the city centre next to Tampere’s central railway and bus station. By having Tampere as venue and more centrally located in the country, the Finns hope to make the World Championship accessible to more people in Finland than at the last events in Helsinki. Tampere is an important city in Finland’s hockey history and also hosted the first World Championship in the country in 1965. The Hakametsa rink in Tampere also hosted the Worlds in 1982, 1991, 1997 and 2003. Helsinki is Finland’s capital with almost 630,000 inhabitants (1.85 million in the region) and the 13,431-seat Hartwall Arena has most recently hosted the World Championships in 2012 and 2013 (co-hosted with Stockholm, Sweden) as well as the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship. Helsinki was also a World Championship host in 1974, 1982, 1991, 1997 and 2003. Both arenas have practice rinks within the same facility. Belarus and Latvia join together Originally Belarus planned to apply with two arenas in Minsk for the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, similar to the setup when the country hosted for the first time in 2014, but on Thursday the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association and the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation announced the joint bid of the neighbouring countries with Minsk and Riga. Minsk is the Belarusian capital with almost two million inhabitants and 3.4 million in the region and in 2014 broke the World Championship attendance record that was reclaimed by the Czechs in 2015. For 2021 the 14,994-seat Minsk Arena would be used as the primary venue and also includes two practice rinks. Riga is Latvia’s capital with 640,000 inhabitants and 1.4 million people living in a 100-kilometre radius of Riga. Known for its crazy fans travelling to World Championships around the world, the Latvians hope to create a great atmosphere on home ice like in 2006 when the 10,300-seat Arena Riga was opened to host the event. Both arenas were opened to host the first World Championship in each county, the Arena Riga for the 2006 Worlds and the Minsk Arena for the 2014 edition. The two venues also hosted the Final Olympic Qualification in 2016 as well as World Championships in the U20, U18 and women’s categories and the IIHF Continental Cup. They are currently mainly used by the local KHL teams, Dynamo Minsk and Dinamo Riga. The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships until 2020 will take place in the following cities: 2017: Cologne (German) & Paris (France) 2018: Copenhagen & Herning (Denmark) 2019: Bratislava & Kosice (Slovakia) 2020: Zurich & Lausanne (Switzerland)

Just when you think the things can not be worst and you just can not fall deeper, it will hapen... Our womens team got a flu and a very strong one Kuzmina already travelled back home, Gereková will stay in Antholz untill Sunday to see if she will be able to start in the relay, Ivona Fialková didn´t joined the team yet (she was supposed to train this week and come only for the relay) so we had only 2 biathletes competing today and ofc with bad results, our disastrous positions and the dramatic situation in the olympic qualification gained actually another level...and with current situation with illness in our team is highly probable we will not even send a relay Sunday... it´s starting to be a real disaster for us in the Nations Cup. we are still 17th but only 5 points ahead of Japan and also next places aren´t so far.... total horror, there not any other word to describe all this season so far for our girls.. and Paulína still didn´t meet the starting criterias for 3rd trimester her last chance will be at WCh... same for her sister Ivona at european championships next week... now my question is ...how deep we can still fall ?

Mens Under 20 Division III World Championships in Dunedin (NZL) Day 3 (19th January 2017) Group A 10:00 Chinese Taipei vs Iceland 2-7 17:00 China vs Israel 6-4 Group B 13:30 South Africa vs Turkey 0-6 20:30 Bulgaria vs New Zealand 4-5

Last day of the preliminary round of the men´s Under 20 Division III World Championships is scheduled tomorrow. Mens Under 20 Division III World Championships in Dunedin (NZL) Day 3 Schedule (19th January 2017) GMT +13 Group A 10:00 Chinese Taipei vs Iceland 17:00 China vs Israel *Theoretically all 4 teams are still fighting (some with more, some with less probable chances) for the semifinals, China the tournament top favorite is with best options, even a lose in some circumstances will be enough for them. Group B 13:30 South Africa vs Turkey 20:30 Bulgaria vs New Zealand *Bulgaria vs New Zealand is a Direct Match for the knock-out round. Turkey is already qualified for the main phase as group B winner. Livestreams