Ice Hockey World Championship

Finland ahead of Austria in the promotion battle

Hannes Bjorninen celebrates with Saku Maenalanen(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Finland's progression to the quarter-finals of the Ice Hockey World Championship is still in their own hands. The Olympic champions won 3:1 (0:0,0:0,3:1) against Denmark in Prague on Monday and go into the final game of Group A with a three-point lead over Austria. 

If Austria beat relegated Great Britain on Tuesday (12.20 p.m.), the four-time world champions will need a point against Switzerland in the evening game (8.20 p.m.) to book their quarter-final ticket.

In the event of an Austrian victory against the British and a Finnish defeat, the direct duel would count for the Austrians in the event of a tie. On Thursday (20:20) in Ostrava, the promoted team will face Sweden, who also won their sixth game with a 3:1 win over France. This means that first place in Group B is now out of reach for the three-crown team.

Meanwhile, Great Britain and Poland are relegated to the B World Cup. The British lost the relegation showdown against Norway in Prague with 2:5 and are thus just as firmly at the bottom of the table as the Poles, who lost 3:1 to Kazakhstan in their "final". Hungary and Slovenia have been promoted to next year's A-World Championship.