World field hockey championships, Italdonne rejoices early: gold and promotion
Bashing South Korea by a very clear 7-0 and thus gaining their fourth victory in as many games, the Italian national ice hockey team has won the Women’s World Cup in Division 1B, the third series of the annual tournament for national teams, with one day to spare. The Azzurre have a three-point lead with Latvia, with the direct clash in their favor.
Against the Koreans at the Ice Bowl in Dumfries, Great Britain, Italy set the seal on the match already in the first period, which ended 3-0 thanks to goals by Maddalena Bedont, Kristen Guerriero and Matilde Fantin. There were also three goals in the second period, scored by Aurora Abatangelo, Manuela Heidenberger and Eleonora Bonafini.
In the last period, Amie Varano, scorer of the final 7-0 goal, put the icing on the cake. Italy thus climbed to 12 points in the standings, having also won before today against Slovenia (12-0), Kazakhstan (2-0) and Latvia (6-0), scoring an impressive 27 goals without conceding a single one, with four shutouts in four games.
The last remaining match, the one against Great Britain, is therefore a formality and has no value for the final ranking of the Azzurre, already certain to play the 2026 World Cup in Division 1A, the one just below the global elite. For Italy, it’s a historic return to the second series, which has not seen our women’s national team at the starting ribbons since 2019.
