Iranian women win historic Asian ice hockey silver
Iran suffered a 3-1 defeat against the defending champion and host, Thailand, and settled for the runner-up spot at the 2023 Ice Hockey Women’s Asia and Oceania Championship in Bangkok.
Supitsara Thamma got the home side off the mark two minutes into the contest, only to see her goal canceled out by Zahra Rezaei in the second period.
Thipwarintorn Yannakornthanpunt restored Thailand’s lead in the 42nd minute, before sealing the victory with five minutes left on the clock. The result will still go down as a precious achievement for the Iranian women, who made it to the final showdown on their debut at the competition, grabbing a first-ever medal for the country in the women’s team sports in the continent.
This was the first defeat at the event for the Iranian debutantes, who marched past India, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan to win Group B and then defeated the UAE and Singapore for a place in the final. Earlier on Sunday, Singapore beat India 3-1 for the bronze.