XXIXth Bandy World Championship | |
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Tournament details | |
Host country | Sweden |
Venue(s) | 6 (in 5 host cities) |
Dates | 18–25 January 2009 |
Teams | 13 |
Final positions | |
Champions | Sweden |
Runner-up | Russia |
Third place | Finland |
Fourth place | Kazakhstan |
Tournament statistics | |
Scoring leader(s) | Joakim Hedqvist & Yevgeny Ivanushkin[1] (14 goals) |
The Bandy World Championship 2009 was held from 18 to 25 January in Västerås, Sweden. Men's teams from 13 countries participated in the 2009 competition: Belarus, Finland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Russia, Sweden (group A) and Canada, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Mongolia, the Netherlands and the United States (group B). Belarus retained their place in group A by beating the United States in a play-off in the previous tournament held in 2008. 44 games were played. Four out of these were played on sites other than Västerås. Those games were played in Solna, Stockholm, Eskilstuna and Uppsala. The main venues were ABB Arena Syd in Västerås, Sweden's largest indoor arena for bandy, and Hakonplan, an outdoor stadium. These two arenas are in the same recreation area in Västerås, Rocklunda sports park.
The six teams of Group A competed for the championship, while the seven teams in Group B competed for a chance to play in Group A in 2010. Sweden defeated Russia in the final, 6–1, to take the gold medal. Finland took the bronze, while Kazakhstan and Norway earned fourth and fifth places, respectively. Belarus, after finishing at the bottom of the Group A pool, had to face the winner of the Group B pool to retain its place in the championship group for the next year. For the fifth straight year, Belarus beat the United States in this match.[2]