ABU DHABI // Yuri Faikov, the UAE coach, is confident his side can get off to a winning start on Sunday night as they aim to regain the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia.
The UAE, who won the tournament for the second time in 2012, meet Kuwait on Sunday in the opening round of games after Hong Kong take on Thailand and Mongolia face defending champions Taiwan at the Abu Dhabi Ice Rink at Zayed Sports City.
“We haven’t seen any team since we played in the same competition almost one year ago in Bangkok,” Faikov said. “That’s a long time, and we know every team keeps improving all the time. We play Kuwait in the opener and we have met them many times before and never got beaten by them.
“But we are not going to take any team for granted.”
The UAE were winners of the continental championship when it was hosted in Abu Dhabi in 2009, and they regained the title in 2012 in India.
This year’s tournament has been changed to a six-nation league format. The team with the most points will be the winner, and the last-place finisher will be relegated to Division One next year.
“Every game for every team will be tough on this short league format of the competition,” said Faikov, who is from Belarus. “As of now, I don’t see any clear favourites. We will know that only after watching the first round games.”
The hosts will be in an upbeat mood as the majority of their players are from the Abu Dhabi Storms, who emerged as champions of the five-team Emirates Hockey League two weeks ago.
“It certainly was a morale boosting result for the players,” said Faikov, who is also coach of the Storms. “We have spent two weeks in a camp since then, preparing for this championship.
We have players from the Storms as well as the Al Ain Theebs, the two teams in which the majority of the players are Emiratis. We are also thinking of the future and have included four youngsters in the senior national team.”
Sunday
Hong Kong v Thailand, 1pm Mongolia v Taiwan, 4.30pm UAE v Kuwait, 8pm
Monday Taiwan v Kuwait, 1pm Hong Kong v Mongolia, 4.30pm UAE v Thailand, 8pm
Wednesday Mongolia v Kuwait, 1pm Taiwan v Thailand, 4.30pm UAE v Hong Kong, 8pm
Thursday Thailand v Mongolia, 1pm Kuwait v Hong Kong, 4.30pm UAE v Taiwan, 8pm
Saturday Taiwan v Hong Kong, 1pm Kuwait v Thailand, 4.30pm UAE v Mongolia, 8pm
apassela@thenational.ae
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