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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Ukrainian Hockey Returns to Elite

23 November, 1999 - 00:00

The British city of Sheffield has hosted a qualification tournament to identify participants in the 2000 world ice hockey championship. The world’s 16 strongest national teams will gather in May in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Ukrainian athletes also fought for the right to go to the city of Peter I.

The main goal has been achieved! After failure at the world championship in the spring of 1999, the national team of Ukraine has regained its place in the world hockey elite. And it fought against by no means weak rivals. Apart from the hosts, taking part in the tournament were others of our former compatriots, the Latvians and Kazakhs. Two draws and one win (3:2 over the national squad of Kazakhstan) allowed the Ukrainian side to finish second in the group. The tournament was won by Latvia. The Kazakhs are relegated to the second division, while Great Britain, which took third, was given a last chance, an additional match versus the team of Norway, to be played at home in Sheffield.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians are beginning to train for their second world championship in history. Let us hope the St. Petersburg ice will bring us luck, reports Kyrylo STADNYCHENKO, The Day.

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