Olympic Qualification group moved to Hainan
by Martin Merk|14 OCT 2019
Face-off between the men’s teams from Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong at the 2018 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division III. The two top-seeded teams will play the last game in Group O of the Men’s Olympic Pre-Qualification Round 1.
photo: Emma Swart
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Group O of the Men’s Olympic Pre-Qualification Round 1 will take place in Sanya on the Chinese island of Hainan. The venue change has been approved today by all participating teams and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

The teams from Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Thailand will play for the top position in the single round robin tournament and a berth in the second round that will take place in three groups in Croatia, Romania and Spain in December.

Hong Kong was originally awarded the right to host by the 2019 IIHF Annual Congress when the tournaments for the 2019/2020 season were allocated. After discussions with the hosts and the participating teams the TUS Ice And Snowpark Sanya was selected as new venue for the tournament scheduled to take place in four weeks. This due to the unrest in Hong Kong.

Sanya is the second-biggest city on the island of Hainan in China and an 85-minute flight away from Hong Kong. The tournament will be played on 7th, 8th and 10th November culminating with the game between the top seeded teams Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei on the evening of 10th November.

Click here to view the full schedule.

The winner of Group O in Sanya and the winner of Group N in Luxembourg, which also includes the United Arab Emirates, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kyrgyzstan, will advance to the second round of the qualification for the 2022 Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament in Beijing, China. The higher-seeded of the two group winners will play the second round in Group L in Spain, the lower-seeded of the two teams in Group K in Romania.

Click here for the Olympic Qualification overview.