The three-season Baltic ice hockey tournament will carry the Turkish Airlines Baltic Challenge Cup name. The international ice hockey tournament will take place in Vilnius 8.11-11.11.2018 and will be attended by the national teams of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Romania and Japan. The Turkish Airlines Baltic Challenge Cup has undergone several changes this season. Last year the tournament took place as a series of three events in three Baltic countries, this year it lasts for four days from the 8th to 11th of November in Lithuania, Vilnius. Altogether six national teams will compete for the title. Lithuania, Japan and Belarus (National Team U25) will play in the group A and Estonia, Latvia (clubs team) and Romania in the B group. The games can be followed live from DelfiTV.
Schedule:
Thursday, November 8 at 3:30 pm Estonia - Latvia (Group B);
Thursday, November 8 at 7pm Lithuania - Japan (Group A);
Friday 9 November at 3:30 pm Estonia - Romania ( Group B)
Friday, 9 November at 7pm Belarus - Japan (Group A)
Saturday, 10 November at 3:30 pm Romania - Latvia (Group B)
Saturday, 10 November at 7pm Lithuania - Belarus (Group A)
Sunday , November 11 November 12.00 5th place game;
Sunday, November 11, November 15.30 3rd place game;
Sunday, November 11th November 19.00 1st place game.
The tournament was launched a few years ago by the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian ice hockey associations. "The first goal was to create a tradition of a torunament of which the Baltic National hockey teams would always take into account in their preparatory cycle. Turkish Airline Baltic Challenge Cup is part of the preparatory cycle of Estonia's National Team for the IIHF 1st Division Group B World Championships in Tallinn, Estonia", commented Rauno Parras, Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Ice Hockey Association. The goalkeepers Villem-Henrik Koitmaa and Roman Shumikhin, forwards Robert Rooba, Artjom Gornostajev, Andrei Makrov, Aleksandr Petrov, Christopher Usov, Emil Svartbro, Robert Arrak and defender Lauri Lahesalu have given their their clubs concent to participate.
"This tournament will play a very important role in the future. Another goal of the tournament besides the Natioal Team is to create a joint Baltic Hockey League in the future," added Parras.
Tickets for the tournament can be bought from bilietai.lt.
