In two months' time, it gets serious for Austria's women at the World Cham­pi­onship in China

Originally, the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women´s World Championship Division IA was due to take place in Shenzhen from 11 to 17 April. 

Due to ongoing travel restrictions and testing requirements in connection with the COVID19 pandemic, the IIHF postponed it on 4 March to a new date in the summer.

The ÖEHV selection led by Head Coach Alexander Bröms will now face Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, hosts China and Slovakia from 20 August to 26 August 2023. Austria officially concluded the season with two friendly matches against World Championship opponents Slovakia at the beginning of April, but the real highlight of the season is still 60 days away.

Austria know Norway, the Netherlands and Slovakia from last year's tournament in Angers, France. They suffered a 4:3 overtime defeat against Norway and recorded a 2:1 victory after a penalty shootout against the Netherlands. Austria narrowly lost 1:2 to Slovakia. Another 3:2 overtime win over France ultimately proved insufficient, as Red-White-Red missed out on promotion after finishing fourth in the table.     

New to the field are hosts China and Denmark, who were relegated from the top division at their home World Championship in Herning and Frederikshavn in early September 2022. Austria will begin their World Championship campaign on Sunday, 20 August 2023, at 10:30 Central European time. The second game against Denmark follows on Monday, before they face the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Following the clash with hosts China on Thursday, the game against Slovakia is scheduled for Saturday, the final day of competition. Matches will be played at the 18.000-seat Shenzhen Universiade Centre.

World Championship schedule:

2023 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship Division IA
20 August 2023 - 26 August 2023, Shenzhen (CHN)

Schedule
Dates and times refer to our local time zone, with the local time shown in brackets.

Austria vs. Norway

Sun, 20 August 2023, 10:30 (16:30 local time)

Denmark vs. Austria

Mon, 21 August 2023, 07:00 (13:00 local time)

Netherlands vs. Austria

Wed, 23 August 2023, 10:30 (16:30 local time)

Austria vs. China

Thu, 24 August 2023, 14:00 (20:00)

Slovakia vs. Austria

Sat, 26 August 2023, 07:00 (13:00)