Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A major international tournament will be held in Tashkent and Samarkand from 23 to 30 April 2024.

The first Asian and Oceanian Championship for junior teams under 18 took place in March 2023 in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. The Uzbekistan national team won confident victories in all five matches of the tournament against the junior teams of Mongolia, Turkmenistan, the UAE, Thailand and Iran and raised the coveted Winners’ Cup over its head. The best scorer of the Championship was the young Uzbek player Zhasurbek Rustamkhonov.

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in his congratulatory speech on the spring holiday Navruz, especially noted this success of a young sport for our country.

Uzbekistan, as the winner, received the right to host the tournament under the auspices of the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) in 2024. The Asian and Oceanian Championship is gaining momentum. This year, not 6, but 10 junior teams from the region will take part in the tournament.

The tournament formula is as follows. The participants are divided into two groups, in which they will play with each of four opponents. In Group A, matches in which will be held at the Humo Arena in Tashkent, the junior teams of Uzbekistan, Thailand, Iran, Malaysia and Kuwait will compete. In Group B in Samarkand, the junior teams of Mongolia, UAE, India, Macau and Indonesia will cross their sticks. After the teams distribute their places in their groups, play-off matches for 9th, 7th, 5th, 3rd and 1st places will take place in Tashkent.

Our team’s goal for the tournament is to defend the championship title. The Hockey Federation of Uzbekistan invites all fans of the best puck game to attend the tournament matches and support the young hockey students of Uzbekistan in international matches.