Holders Russia survived their toughest test of the 2009 Ice Hockey World Championship when they beat hosts Switzerland 4-2 on Tuesday.
Canada, the other leading contenders for the title, demolished Slovakia 7-3, while Hungary and Germany were dispatched to the relegation playoffs although the latter cannot go down.
Alexei Morozov claimed the decisive goal with 11:32 left following a give-and-go with Ilya Kovalchuk to give Russia their third successive win as they finished top of Group B.
PHOTO: AP
Kovalchuk finished with a goal and two assists, while Vitali Atyushov and Alexander Perezhogin also scored for Russia.
Atyushov put Russia ahead after 2:19 but the Swiss outshot their opponents 13-6 in the first period and finished 2-1 ahead after Ryan Gardner and Martin Pluss scored powerplay goals off Ivo Ruthemann assists.
Kovalchuk leveled with a wrist shot under the crossbar after 9:08 of the second period. After Morozov made it 3-2 in the third frame, Oleg Saprykin hit the post from close range and Perezhogin made the game safe with 15 seconds left after dispossessing an opponent to score an empty-net goal.
France beat Germany 2-1 in Group B to leave their opponents point-less in three games and send them into the relegation section.
Hungary, returning to the top flight for the first time in 70 years, were also condemned to the relegation round after an unlucky 3-1 defeat by Belarus in Group A in Zurich.
After losing 4-3 to Slovakia in the last few minutes, Hungary suffered more heartache when Belarus tallied twice in the last five minutes of a game which could have gone either way. Alexei Ugarov scored with a backhand shot and Mikhail Grabovski added a late empty netter to condemn Hungary to their third consecutive defeat.
Canada made no mistake as they thumped Slovakia for their third easy win in as many Group A games.
The top three in each four-team group proceed to the qualification round, consisting of two groups of six, while the four last-placed sides take part in a single group to avoid relegation.
The bottom two go down to division one next year. However, as Germany host next year’s event, they are guaranteed to stay in the top flight. Should the Germans finish third or fourth, the second-placed side would be relegated in their place.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
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Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tomorrow for the final berth at next year's World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome yesterday. The home team's loss means that Nicaragua finishes No. 1 in the qualifier round held in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to the games. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier yesterday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, finished third, while South Africa placed at the bottom
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