Para World Cham­pi­onship: Austria clearly lose opening match against Finland in Bangkok

Austria started their World Championship opener against Finland in Bangkok with Werner Pouzar in goal and made a dream start against the favourites: Kevin Siess fired home on the first power play to make it 1:0 (3.). Finland’s Aaron Hanninen then broke through alone on netminder Pouzar, who preserved the lead with a superb save. As the first period progressed, the Finns took increasing control and levelled at 1:1 through Nemo Pajula from the slot on a two-man power play (9.). 

Shortly afterwards, Juhamatti Himanen swept the puck over the line from close range to make it 2:1 (11.). Just 59 seconds later, Aaron Hanninen deflected a superb pass from Markku Vesikansa for 3:1 (12.). Juhamatti Himanen added 4:1, steering the loose puck in front of goal into the net for 4:1 (13.).

Finland maintained the pace at the start of the second period and added further goals. The build-up to 5:1 was similar to that of 4:1. Following a Finnish attack, the puck lay loose in front of netminder Pouzar, with Tuomo Niskanen reacting quickest to score (19.). 63 seconds later, Aaron Hanninen scored his second goal of the game from close range on the power play to make it 6:1 (20.). 

In the final period, the B-Pool relegated side had still not satisfied their hunger for goals. Finland pulled away to 9:1 with a three-goal burst inside 68 seconds. Juhamatti Himanen entered the attacking zone and fired a superb shot home for 7:1 (33.). Aaron Hanninen increased the lead to 8:1 after a fine combination (33.). Harri Kangastie then let fly to make it 9:1 for Suomi (34.). 

Michael Ladstätter came on in goal for Austria for the final minutes, but it remained 9:1 to Finland. Timo Ropp was named Austria’s best player of the game.

Head Coach Erik Vikström analysed the match immediately after the final buzzer: "We played well at the start. After the penalty kill and the equaliser, we conceded three more quick goals. It was tough after that; the players worked as hard as they could. But we have already put this game behind us. We are now at the World Championship and can still finish second. Despite the heavy scoreline, the positive today was that the players never gave up. We will have more puck possession against Australia and need to move the puck better. We hope we can generate more shots on goal and win in the end!" 

Captain Thomas Schilcher added: "Unfortunately, the game did not go so well; we expected more from ourselves. Taking the lead was great, but then we quickly conceded and our performance dipped a little. Against Australia, we need to be better defensively, pay more attention in front of our own goal and support our goalie more. We need to implement what we set out to do better in order to achieve a better result!"

Australia await in the second game early on Wednesday

The ÖEHV selection continues its Para Ice Hockey World Championship, Pool C campaign on Wednesday at the Thailand International Ice Hockey Arena, facing Australia in its second game from 08:00 CET (14:00 local time). Australia lost their opening game against hosts Thailand by 0:25.

Para Ice Hockey World Championship, Pool C

26–30 November 2024, Bangkok, Thailand

Finland vs. Austria 9:1 (4:1,2:0,3:0)
Tues., 26 November 2024, 11:30 (17:30 local time), Bangkok
Finland scorers: Nemo Pajula (9./PP2), Juhamatti Himanen (11., 13., 33.), Aaron Hanninen (12., 20./PP1, 33.), Tuomo Niskanen (19.), Harri Kangastie (34.)
Austria scorer: Kevin Siess (3./PP1)

Thailand vs. Australia 25:0 (6:0,9:0,10:0)
Tues., 26 November 2024, 08:00 (14:00 local time), Bangkok

27 November 
08:00: Austria vs. Australia (Livestream)
11:30: Finland vs. Thailand 

29 November 
08:00: Austria vs. Thailand (Livestream)
11:30: Finland vs. Australia 

30 November 
08:00: Bronze medal game (Livestream)
14:00: Gold medal game (Livestream)