2009 Asian Ice Hockey Challenge Cup

The 2009 Asian Ice Hockey Challenge Cup is the 2nd IIHF Asian Challenge Cup tournament held March 15–20, 2009 in Abu Dhabi , UAE . Eight teams showed up for the cup. The tournament was held on a more complex system, unlike the first. Initially, eight teams were divided into two groups. The two best teams from the group continued to fight for “gold”, the two worst teams participated in matches for fifth place. Unlike the previous cup, the duration of the matches became standard: 3 periods of 20 minutes.

2009 Asian Ice Hockey Challenge Cup
2009 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia
Logo 2009 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia
Tournament Details
Country	UAE
City of	Abu Dhabi
Time spending	March 15 - 20
Number of teams	eight
Top places
Champion	UAE (1st title)
Second place	Thailand
Third place	Malaysia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	20
Goals scored	151 (7.55 per game)

The tournament was a successful event. The last two games of the cup, in the struggle for gold and bronze medals, were broadcast live on television . The final of the tournament with the participation of the UAE national team was attended by a member of the ruling royal family - Sheikh Hazza ibn Zayed al-Nahyan. The tournament was also attended by guests from other Arab countries: Kuwait , Oman and Bahrain , developing their hockey programs ^[1] .

The UAE team became the champion and won their first title, defeating the Thai team in the final with a score of 5: 3. The hero of the match was the striker of the UAE team Yuma Al-Daheri , who scored a hat-trick . The bronze medal was won by the national team of Malaysia , who won the Hong Kong national team in the match for third place - 4: 3.