President backs building of an ice hockey arena

Society
amina@montsame.mn
2018-04-11 09:33:25
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ President Kh.Battulga has congratulated Mongolian hockey team which triumphed at the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Challenge Cup of Asia.

The Challenge Cup of Asia is an annual tournament held by the IIHF, and there is no formal ice hockey championship held in Asia. The Top Division of the tournament took place on April 3-8 in the Philippines. 

Team Mongolia has been competing the tournament for the last eight years, and had claimed five medals including a silver last year, before finally claiming victory this year at the 11th edition. The latest achievement makes the Mongolian team eligible to participate in world-level tournaments.

After congratulating the team, President Kh.Battulga learned about the existing challenges in the development of ice hockey in Mongolia at a meeting held on April 10.

The team members, the coach and representatives of the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation attended the meeting and informed the President of major problems they face such as financial restraint and lack of an ice hockey arena. There is no official national ice hockey team in the country, and the players have to manage working while playing, they said.

President Kh.Battulga appreciated the efforts and dedication of Mongolian ice hockey players and the achievement at the Cup despite of lack of training and an arena, saying that the team should aspire for even higher goals such as entering the Olympics. The President also expressed his readiness to support the forming of a national team and building an ice hockey arena in Mongolia, while informing that he is already in talks with the heads of foreign diplomatic missions regarding the latter.

The athletes appreciated the President’s attention of the matter of building an ice hockey arena in the country.
Kh.Aminaa