World Para Ice Hockey Worlds website launched

With 50 days to go (20 February) until the 2017 World Para Ice Hockey World Championships A-Pool open in Gangneung, South Korea, on 11 April, the official competition website has been launched.

Paralympic.org/gangneung-2017 is the place to find information about the history of the Championships, the competition schedule, news and athlete biographies and profiles.

More updates will be added over the coming weeks, including the full game schedule and team previews.

Live results will also be available during the competition, with the first game starting on 12 April and running until 20 April.

World and Paralympic champions the USA, Worlds silver medallists Canada, Norway, Italy, Germany, South Korea and Sweden are amongst the teams expected to compete.

The top five finishers will qualify directly for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

Barbora Kohoutova, Interim World Para Ice Hockey Manager, said: “We are entering into the final phase of preparations for Gangneung 2017, and we have just returned from a successful site visit.

“The organisers are working hard to ensure that everything is ready for the teams and visitors and we are confident that it will be a great event.

“The website is an important part of that, as well as raising awareness of the World Championships, which is the most important event on the sport’s calendar this year.”

The tournament will also act as the Test Event for PyeongChang 2018 and is being held at the Gangneung Hockey Centre, which will host Para ice hockey during the Paralympic Winter Games.

The top five teams will advance directly to PyeongChang 2018, whilst the bottom two teams will play at the Qualification Tournament expected to take place in late 2017.