Despite beating Norway in the last round of the fifth Polesie Cup (5:2) Eduard Zankovets’ team has lost the main trophy to Denmark — 2:4. Between the two matches, the host team beat Slovenia 8:2; nevertheless, Denmark eventually proved stronger.
“The three matches in Gomel were played in very high spirits. Unfortunately, in the first match, we were not successful in one period,” notes the head coach of the Belarusian squad. “In eight out of nine periods, we’re happy with our performance but having several players sent off the ice in the last match was disappointing. Youth, enthusiasm and emotions clearly took over.” Mr. Zankovets sees nothing terrible in the Cup leaving Belarus, since his team performed in Gomel with an experimental line-up.
The Belarusian under-20s hockey team also took part in an international tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark, coached by Oleg Mikulchik. They are currently training (like other Belarusian squads) for the World Championship. The squad defeated Latvia — 3:0, Austria — 7:6 (in overtime) and Finland — 5:2 but was crushed by Denmark — 0:6. However, it won the event over all.
