Georgian ice hockey team in “full fighting mood" for World Championship - Federation President

The Georgian ice hockey team will play fixtures of the Ice Hockey World Championship games in Madrid between April 16-22, facing Iceland, Croatia, Spain, Australia and Israel. In a preview for the tournament, the President of the Ice Hockey Federation Zakaria Khechuashvili told Agenda.ge this year's contest was a “particularly important” event for the national team.

Khechuashvili said he believed the team's players were in “full fighting” mood and aiming to take a prize-winning spot in the 2A Division. We interviewed the official and members of the team about their expectations and preparations for the upcoming tournament.

Team coach Revaz Tsomaia said all players of the national team had gone through an "in-depth" medical checkups before launching their preparation for the upcoming two-week training camp in Latvia, which would provide an opportunity to improve their technical and tactical skills.

We study rivals, look at games [and] analyse their weak and strong points. We are already familiar with two teams in personal meetings. [I]f the Israeli team is represented by experienced players, for Iceland there is a young fast team. Favourites in the group are Spain and Croatia. But we can deal with all the teams and we certainly are not going to the World Championship as "whipping boys'. If the players listen to and follow coaching instructions at the games, opponents will be very surprised, and we will show the best hockey in the history of the Georgian sport yet”, he said.

The coach also noted the average age of his players was 27, which he called a "great age" for hockey, but added the squad also needed to think about the future, noting “we are waiting for replenishment” of the team by younger generations who were stepping on their heels and would become a good competition to existing players in the future.

Aleksandre Zhuzhunashvili, a member of the national team, told us support from state institutions and fans was "very important" in the current stage, because of the early stage of wider hockey promotion in Georgia.

Photo: Georgian Ice Hockey Federation.

First of all, I would like to thank  everyone, as even the smallest support already means a lot to us and it motivates us strongly. On the other hand, we ask you to tell your friends and acquaintances about us [and] write in social networks - this will help the development of this sport in our country and contribute to the success of the team," he noted.

He also emphasised all national teams competing in the World Cup in Madrid were well-prepared and had the advantage of their players being represented in clubs in professional European leagues. However, he added the Georgian squad  had a “team attitude and spirit”, noting it as the "main advantage” of the squad. 

The future of Georgian hockey depends a lot on the support of the state, Zhuzhunashvili said. “If we unite for a common cause, the future of Georgian hockey will be bright. Many people know that we have already been approaching the level of top teams in a relatively short period of time, and in the future we will achieve more and more success”,  he told us. 

We also talked to the President of the Federation about the future development of domestic hockey and state support, and asked him how the domestic sport was developing, as well as about plans for further success.

Photo: Georgian Ice Hockey Federation.

Khechuashvili said the national team met several times every year for training sessions in various countries, where "all conditions" were created for full training. 

Georgia will play the Latvian club HK Tukums and hold training sessions in Spain in preparation for fixtures of its Group A of the World Championship next month.

He also noted the Georgian Sports Ministry supported the Federation in “every possible way”, both financially and in solving organisational matters. Khechuashvili plans to build a facility in Tbilisi with two ice rinks. 

On March 12-13, 2023, training for youth and junior ice hockey players was held at the Kutaisi ice rink, which was led by Besa Tsintsadze's assistant Andrey Romanov (Who is Georgian Ice Hockey National Team player). pic.twitter.com/kGpIhVWyez

— Georgian Ice Hockey Federation (@gihnf1) March 22, 2023