M. Armalis was unbeaten, and the Lithuanian national team had a victorious start to the World IB Division Championship in Vilnius

On Saturday, the World Division I Group B tournament began at the Twinsbet Arena in Vilnius, where the Lithuanian national team will aim to reach a higher division and overtake the national teams of the Netherlands, China, Estonia, Spain and Ukraine.

In the first match of the championship, the Lithuanians are led by Ron Pasco 3:0 (0:0, 2:0, 1:0) defeated the debutant Spanish national team of this division and confidently started the championship.

Although the Lithuanians were superior in terms of shots on goal in the first half and had a quantitative advantage in the second half, neither team was able to stand out.

At the beginning of the second half, after Ilya Chetvertak’s fight in the corner of the opponent’s side, Tadas Kumeliauskas (22:07 min.) intercepted the puck and disarmed the Spanish goalkeeper Raulis Barbo with the second attempt and scored his 17th goal representing the Lithuanian national team at the IIHF World Championships.

As the half drew to a close, after a great pass by Ugnius Čižo to the goal, he successfully poked his stick Paulius Gintautas (37:09 min.) and the result has already become 2:0.

In the second half of the third period, Nerijaus Ališauskas’ long shot was blocked, but the puck remained in the goal, and there Laisvydas Kudrevičius (54:23 min.) was the fastest and scored the third Lithuanian goal – 3:0.

T.Kumeliauskas was recognized as the best player of the match in the Lithuanian national team, and R.Barbo was the goalkeeper of Spain.

The Lithuanians had 38 shots on goal, while the Spaniards had 23.

We remind you that in the first match of the championship, China defeated the Netherlands 3:0, and today the national teams of Estonia and Ukraine, which are considered favorites, will meet on the pitch.

On Sunday, Lithuanians from 4:00 p.m. will face Estonia.

The Spanish national team makes its debut in Group B of the 1st Division. Until recently, the representatives of this country fought even a couple of divisions lower in the tournament, so in recent years, hockey in this country is experiencing an upswing, which is felt in all age groups. However, in this championship, the Spaniards, together with the Netherlands, will most likely fight for survival in this group.

The last time the men’s ice hockey championship was held in Lithuania was in 2018. In Kaunas, in the “Žalgiris” arena, and then Mindaugas Kieras, the current assistant to the head coach of the Lithuanian national team, played his 20th World Championship in a row and together with the entire Lithuanian national team won gold medals and moved up to the IA division. However, already the next year, the Lithuanians won only one victory in the higher division and had to return to the IB division. Finally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the championships did not take place for two years, and in 2022 due to Russia starting a war in Ukraine, the IIHF excluded Belarus and Russia from the World Championship, so Lithuania got a place again in Division IA, where the Lithuanians won bronze medals in Slovenia. in 2023 The Lithuanian national team has not won a single victory in this division and now in Vilnius they will aim to return to a higher level.

Composition of the Lithuanian national team:

Defenders: Nerijus Ališauskas, Domantas Čypas, Edgaras Protčenko, Tomaš Krukovski, Kostas Gusevs, Paulius Rumševičius, Artur Seniut.

Strikers: Tadas Kumeliauskas, Povilas Verenis, Aivaras Bendžius, Paulius Gintautas, Ugnius Čižas, Ilja Četvertakas, Emilijus Krakauskas, Markas Kaleinikovas, Laisvydas Kudrevičius, Martynas Grinius, Eimantas Noreika, Dovydas Laimutis, Marijus Dumčius.

Goalkeepers: Mantas Armalis, Elvin Karla, Faustas Nausėda.

Schedule:

The course of the match: