Goyang 2013: Italy preview
09.04.2013What you need to know about Italy prior to the 2013 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool.
Andrea Chiarotti is the captain of Italy's ice sledge hockey team and has been participating at the Paralympic level since the Torino 2006 Games.
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Italy's ice sledge hockey programme started up just prior to the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games.
Outlook
Italy finished in sixth place at the World Championships last year, just barely escaping relegation to the B-Pool.
However, the Italians have come a long way since fielding a Paralympic team for the first time at the Torino 2006 Games. They have a 2011 European Championship title under their belts and have a veteran team heading to Goyang that believes they can finish in the top five and automatically qualify for Sochi 2014.
Italy has plenty of experience this season on the ice as well, most recently taking first place at the Paralympic Winter World Cup, finishing ahead of Sweden, Norway and Estonia.
Key players
Andrea Chiarotti (forward); Florian Planker (forward)
Head coach
Massimo Da Rin De Lorenzo
World Championship A-Pool medals
None
Paralympic medals
None
