Who Would Believe It

Hockey players of the Kyrgyzstan national team. Photo: IIHF website

Central Asia is not typically considered a hockey powerhouse. Until recently, this sport was only popular in Kazakhstan, but in recent years, the game with the puck and stick has garnered increasing interest in the neighboring republics. The national teams of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan have a solid record at the World Championships, albeit in lower divisions. Since 2025, Uzbekistan has joined this group with its newly formed national team. All three teams performed quite successfully in the World Championship tournament, with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan emerging as champions in their respective divisions.

The World Ice Hockey Championship is not only a tournament featuring hockey stars like Canada's Sidney Crosby, Russia's Alexander Ovechkin, or Sweden's William Nylander. With 58 national teams in the IIHF rankings, there’s room for everyone. Beyond the top league with the 16 strongest teams in the world, there are seven divisions, each with six participants.

The lowest division is the fourth, where newcomers begin their hockey journey. This year, Uzbekistan's national team made its debut in this division. The tournament took place in Armenia from April 13 to 19. Besides the host team from Armenia and Uzbekistan, the competition also featured teams from Kuwait, Iran, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

A Saved Debut

In reality, it’s hard to call Uzbekistan's national team a true newcomer in the full sense. The team is made up of professional players from HC «Khumo,» which plays in the Kazakh league, most of whom are naturalized Russians. Among them are one of the league's top scorers, Vadim Kravchenko, his partners Vasily Zhilov, Pavel Sinyavsky, Yegor Dorofeyev, and other pros. And, of course, the team's captain, Zhavokhir Rasulov.

The roster was further completed with junior players. Most of them come from the «Tashkent Select» club, which competes in Kazakhstan’s youth league, and two young Uzbek talents currently playing in Czech clubs—Jasurbek Rustamkhonov and Salohiddin Azimov. By the way, the youth team has already won the Asia and Oceania Cup twice, as well as the Junior World Championship in Group B of Division III as part of the Uzbekistan U-18 team. So, the Uzbek hockey players are certainly not lacking in experience.

Hockey players of the Kyrgyzstan national team. Photo: IIHF website

Before the World Championship, many fans wondered whether Uzbekistan's national team would go to Yerevan in full force. In mid-April, Kazakhstan's final championship matches took place, where «Khumo» could have participated. And while player participation could theoretically be resolved with flights for key matches — the first line led by Kravchenko could play only in the crucial games against Armenia and Kuwait — the situation with the coach was unclear.

It was assumed that the team would be led by Kazakhstan's specialist Dmitry Kataev, the coach of «Khumo.» However, if the Tashkent club reached the final of Kazakhstan's playoffs, the issue of combining duties would not be physically feasible — the coach couldn’t be in two places at once. But in the end, the question resolved itself. «Khumo,» leading the semifinal series against Ust-Kamenogorsk's «Torpedo» 3-1, unexpectedly lost 3-4 and did not make it to the final. Thus, the team that traveled to Armenia was fully prepared, but it was not Kataev who led them — instead, the team was coached by Normunds Sejes, the head coach of «Tashkent Select,» a Latvian specialist.

The Uzbek team started the tournament quite strongly, defeating one of their main competitors, Kuwait, by a score of 13-3. The Kuwaiti team, like Uzbekistan’s, was also partially composed of naturalized Russians. However, in the second round, a real sensation occurred — Uzbekistan lost to Armenia in a penalty shootout. Of course, the Armenians were the hosts, and their team also included a few professionals, but still, their roster couldn’t compare to that of Uzbekistan’s.

Even the Armenian team's coach, Vadim Guskov, after the victory over Uzbekistan, noted that the result was truly heroic, as members of the Armenian team were not only playing hockey but also handling administrative tasks — welcoming guests, working with documents, and even resurfacing the ice at the arena. In Armenia, hockey is developed by enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, following the defeat of the national team and «Khumo,» rumors spread about a loss of interest in hockey from sponsors. Fans and some specialists expressed doubts about whether Uzbek hockey would continue in its current form. However, all these assumptions were disproven by a person familiar with the situation, who spoke to Fergana News.

Thanks to their victory over Uzbekistan, the Armenian team temporarily took the top spot, leaving the Uzbeks hoping for a misstep from the hosts in the remaining matches — and, of course, they had to perform well themselves. Uzbek fans placed their greatest hopes on Kuwait, who were set to play Armenia in the next round. And those hopes were fulfilled. Kuwait led 4-0, with goals scored by naturalized Russians and a Belarusian. However, the Kuwaiti team only had one fully functional line, and they lacked the physical endurance, which allowed the Armenian players to equalize and send the game into overtime. Nevertheless, Kuwait regrouped, and Belarusian Budovich scored the winning goal, securing Uzbekistan’s first-place finish in the group. There was a real celebration in the Uzbek team’s camp.

With such a stroke of luck, the Uzbek hockey players had no room for error. In the remaining two matches, the Uzbek team won with an aggregate score of 44-4, leaving no chance for their opponents.

Uzbekistan not only won the Division IV gold medals and secured promotion, but also set a record for the most goals scored — 79 goals in five matches.

Meanwhile, the top scorers of the tournament were Kuwait’s Ilya Drozdetsky (13+23) and Anton Tsybin (14+21). Uzbekistan's Vadim Kravchenko (13+12) ranked third. In fact, the entire top 10 scorers of the Division IV World Championship were naturalized players, including Armenia's Maxim Kuznetsov. As for the young Uzbek players, it’s impossible not to highlight Salokhiddin Azimov (7+6) and, of course, goalkeeper Rustam Irgashev, who, at just 18 years old, bore the full responsibility for the national team’s netminding duties.

The national team of Uzbekistan can be congratulated on their successful debut. Yes, not everything went perfectly, but the team's potential is immense. The team is reminiscent of the UAE national team, also partially made up of naturalized players of comparable quality to Uzbekistan's. Moreover, the level of local players in Uzbekistan is clearly higher. The UAE hockey team played for many years in the lower division of the World Championship, but in 2019, several players were naturalized, and the team began its rise. Over a few seasons, they ascended to Group A of Division II — the fourth strongest league in the world. Uzbekistan’s team is fully capable of making a similar journey, but faster, without wasting years and without hesitation to naturalize the necessary players who can strengthen the team's positions — for example, in goalkeeping.

The national teams of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have been playing together in Group A of Division III for the second year. This time, the tournament took place in Turkey from April 21 to 27. Turkey had a poor performance in Group B of Division II last season and was relegated, but they were confident they would return the following year. The schedule was even arranged so that in the final round, the hosts would face their main competitor for promotion — the Kyrgyzstan team. However, things didn’t go according to plan — Turkey unexpectedly lost to Turkmenistan. As a result, the key match of the tournament became the Central Asian derby.

Both Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan have not been competing in the World Championships for very long. However, over the past 7-8 years (taking into account the two «pandemic» years when the World Championships were not held), they have made significant progress. Both teams undoubtedly have the goal of advancing to a higher division, and the recent tournament was no exception. Competing alongside the Central Asian teams were the national teams of Bosnia, Luxembourg, and South Africa, who played a more passive role in the tournament.

Silver as Gold

The Turkmen team arrived in Turkey far from their optimal lineup. Ahmed Gurbanov retired from his career, and four other key players — Bega Davletmuradov, Arslan Geldimuradov, Arslan Nuriyev, and Novruz Baykhanov — were disqualified due to a fight with the Hong Kong team at the Asian Games last autumn. Interestingly, unlike his Uzbek counterpart, head coach Ilyas Veliyev did not call up any players from the youth national team, which had performed well at the U-18 World Championship in Division III. This included the tournament's top scorer, Sultanhamit Vakhitov, and the best shooter, Iskenderkhan Durdyyev.

Fragment of the Turkey-Turkmenistan match. Photo: Press Service of the Hockey Federation of Turkey

In this situation, the leadership was taken by Pavel Barkovsky, who ultimately became the team’s top scorer and best shooter of the tournament, Baymurat Baymurov, Alexander Vakhovsky, and Kerven Baylyev. The remaining team leaders had to be distributed across the lines to avoid overloading one particular unit.

Nevertheless, the Turkmen team played high-quality hockey. They even managed to defeat the hosts of the tournament — Turkey (2:1), which can be considered a real sensation given the circumstances. At the same time, the fact that the team was weakened by absences could not go unnoticed. As a result, there was a heavy defeat to Kyrgyzstan (1:8) in the match for first place in the group and a rather shaky performance against South Africa in the final round — Turkmen players were trailing 2:5 by the third period, but managed to turn the game around, tying the score just before the final buzzer and then scoring the winning goal in overtime.

Undoubtedly, this tournament should be considered a success for the Turkmen national team. Despite the difficulties, they won the silver medal, secured a crucial victory over the strong Turkish team, and next year they will definitely be considered a favorite in the battle for promotion to a higher division. The leaders will return to the lineup, the youth will continue to develop, and perhaps the Turkmen Hockey Federation will compete for the right to host the tournament in Ashgabat.

Ideal Kyrgyzstan

Russian specialist Mikhail Chekanov, who has been working with the Kyrgyzstan national team from the very beginning, brought the strongest and most experienced players to Istanbul, many of whom also represented the national team at the Asian Games, where the team reached the quarterfinals.

However, there were also some newcomers. Among them was Timofey Shirokov, a native of Bishkek who plays in the Polish league. A controversial incident arose around his name in the media. Russian bloggers spread a rumor that opponents of Kyrgyzstan were planning to file a protest to disqualify the national team for violating IIHF regulations, according to which only players with experience in local championships — at least two seasons — can represent a national team. This caused a stir among fans, as the Kyrgyzstan team had already been disqualified at their debut World Championship in 2019 for a similar reason — it was discovered that Russian player Alexander Titov had not played enough months in the Kyrgyz league. No one wanted to repeat that story. Moreover, it was hard to imagine that the Hockey Federation of Kyrgyzstan could make the same mistake again.

Indeed, according to public records, Shirokov has been playing for Polish clubs since he was 15, and there is no information about his involvement in Kyrgyzstan's hockey scene. However, as «Fergana» correspondent confirmed, according to the IIHF regulations, a player's experience in their national team is recognized after they turn 10 years old. This means that if Shirokov played at the youth level in Kyrgyzstan before moving to Poland, that would be enough. In the end, no protest was filed. Therefore, this rumor can be dismissed as a fabricated story created by bloggers for hype. Shirokov performed quite well at the tournament — scoring a goal and providing two assists.

Kyrgyzstan Fully Deserved Victory

In general, the Kyrgyzstan team fully deserved to win the tournament. They won all their matches with an overall score of 27:5, including an unexpected 8:1 rout of Turkmenistan.

One particular match worth highlighting is the final round against Turkey. The hosts still had a chance to win the tournament, helped by Turkmenistan dropping points in their match against South Africa. Turkey needed a victory over Kyrgyzstan in regular time, and they entered the game with the appropriate mindset and the support of the home crowd. Kyrgyzstan didn’t lag behind. About a hundred of their compatriots came to support the team. In the end, Chekanov’s team won comfortably 3:1. After defeats to Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, Turkey’s head coach, Slovenian specialist Andrej Brodnik, was dismissed from his position, after leading the team for more than three years.

Mamed Seyfulov. Photo: Press Service of the Hockey Federation of Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan’s captain Mamed Seyfulov became the top scorer and goal scorer of the tournament, with 6 goals and 3 assists. Other standout players included Mikhail Chuvavov (3+4), Vladimir Tonkikh (3+3), and Ersultan Mirbek Uulu (3+2). The team has proven itself as a cohesive unit for several years, and this is the key recipe for their success. Over the course of four years, Kyrgyzstan has risen through three divisions — an impressive achievement. Even the official IIHF website published an article titled “The Perfect Kyrgyzstan Continues Its Impressive Growth.”

The national teams of Kyrgyzstan (Group B of Division II), Turkmenistan (Group A of Division III), and Uzbekistan (Group B of Division III) will learn their opponents in the next World Championship at the beginning of May, after the conclusion of the tournament in the other divisions.

It is worth reminding that in May, Kazakhstan's national team, which is facing certain roster challenges following the law restricting dual citizenship, will compete in the top division of the World Championship. The only hope for Kazakhstan’s supporters is to maintain their status in the top tier. No more ambitious goals are being set. Kazakhstan's opponents in the group stage will include the Czech Republic, the USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Hungary. The main goal is simply not to finish last.