As ORIENT has already reported, hockey players from the Ak Bars Kazan club system have arrived in Ashgabat to conduct joint training camps with the national team of Turkmenistan.

During the World Health Day, Ak Bars Kazan beat Avangard Omsk with a minimum score in the final of the eastern conference of the KHL, and the second team at that time held a friendly meeting against the national team of Turkmenistan.

The game brought no surprises. Already at the 40th second, Galimzyanov, with the transfer of Kuvardin, initiated the capture of the Turkmen gate. After 20 minutes, Nasybullin doubled the advantage of the guests. In the 24th minute, Galimzyanov scored the third goal against the Turkmen national team, making a double.

After 10 minutes, Zaripov broke away from the defender and hit the target with a throw from his hands (there is such a technique). The hockey players of the Turkmenistan national team did not leave the arena of the Winter Sports Sports Complex without scoring a puck. In the 39th minute, Dovletmuradov scored one goal from Barkovsky's pass. Nasybullin put a point in the match – 5: 1.

At the end of the friendly meeting, the head coach of the Turkmenistan national hockey team, Bayram Allayarov, explained to ORIENT readers the reason for the defeat of his wards.

– The captain of the team, Ahmed Atayev, missed today's match. He was injured at the last training session – a broken finger, so he could not participate in such an important meeting for gaining experience. Unfortunately, the hockey player who replaced him did not fit the game. The game didn't work out. It didn't work out a little. By the World Cup, we hope that our captain will be able to recover – at least, to go to the first game. His attitude is combative.

...It should be noted that Danis Zaripov, a 42–year-old athlete known in hockey circles, heads the sports delegation of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation. Danis Zinnurovich is an honored Master of Sports, as part of the Russian national team he became world champion three times (2008, 2009 and 2014), and as part of Ak Bars he won the Gagarin Cup five times. In addition, this record – to be a five–time winner of the prestigious Cup - has not yet been broken by anyone.

The star of not only Russian, but also world hockey Danis Zaripov shared with ORIENT his opinion on the chances of the Turkmenistan national team at the upcoming World Championship in the III division of group "A", which will be held in Cape Town – the capital of the Republic of South Africa.

– I am sure that the Turkmen national team will give a decent result at the World Cup. However, I will start with the fact that we did not spend much time at the training camp, but I think it was enough to highlight some useful moments that could be used by rapidly progressing Turkmen hockey players during the games at the World Cup. Some details are already showing up on the part of the players, but I will still say that there is a lot to work to do. We explained it to them. They should be able to realize the potential opportunities that we talked about during joint training during the upcoming games.

The head coach of the Turkmenistan national hockey team Bayram Allayarov told about the preparations for the upcoming World Championship.

– There are 10 days left until the World Cup. There is not much time left before the crucial matches, so we will have more tactical exercises, we will work out standard situations. We are very glad to cooperate with the legendary Ak Bars club, with their experienced coaches and players. Their rich experience, advice and recommendations are very useful for us.

At the end of the friendly match, the hockey players of both teams took a joint photo, and Danis Zaripov tried on the national men's don suit, as well as the telpek headdress.

Moreover, the spectators who attended the game vied with each other to take pictures next to the Ak Bars players took autographs from them.

Recall that the national team of Turkmenistan in the III division of the World Ice Hockey Championship will face the teams of Luxembourg, Thailand, Taiwan and the host of the tournament – the Republic of South Africa.

Our national team will play the first game on April 17 with the South African team, the next day it will play a match against Luxembourg, and on April 20 Bayram Allayarov's wards will meet with Thailand. The tournament for Turkmen hockey players will end on April 23 with a duel with Taiwan.

At the last World Championship in Group A of the third division, the Turkmenistan national ice hockey team took third place.

In the track record of the opponents of the national team of Turkmenistan: 2nd place in group "B" in 2022 of the third division for Thailand, 1st place in group "B" of the third division for South Africa in 2022, 4th place in group "A" of the third division in 2019 for Taiwan and 5th a place in group "A" of the third division in 2022 for Luxembourg.

Artur PETROSYANTS