The Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga is becoming more and more a tournament of wonder. Eleven-time world champion Sweden accepted their second embarrassing bankruptcy against an outsider a day after 3: 4 against Denmark with 0: 1 (0: 0, 0: 0, 0: 1) against Belarus. German Nestro (41st) led the newcomer to a first World Cup victory against Trey Kroner.
Defending champions Finland also embarrassed themselves with a 1: 2 (0: 0, 1: 1, 0: 0, 0: 0, 0: 1) after a penalty shoot-out against newly promoted Kazakhstan on Sunday. Nikita Michaelis converted the deciding penalty.
The 26-time title holder Canada had previously suffered a 2–0 defeat to host Latvia, which then lost 3–2 to Kazakhstan. Like Sweden, the twelve-time world champion Czech Republic started with two defeats.
Norway celebrated their first win a day after a 1: 5 defeat against the German national team. The team around Dell players Mathis and Ken Andre Olimb won against Italy 4: 1 (1: 0, 2: 0, 1: 1). Former Krefeld Mathis Tretanus was the match winner with three goals.
In Group A, Slovakia posted their second three – albeit with major problems. After 5: 2 against Belarus, the 2002 World Champion Outsiders struggled against Great Britain until 2: 1 (1: 0, 1: 1, 0: 0). The winning goal was achieved by Robert Lantosi (25th).
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