Hong Kong 7-6 (OT) Singapore
Kyrgyzstan 22-0 Malaysia
Bosnia-Herzegovina 9-2 Iran
Great performance by Singapore when compared to last years' showings, and they'll be a little disappointed to have an upset victory snatched from under them by Hong Kong, who they had the better of for large parts. Panicky defending did for them in the end as they lost the lead twice in the final three minutes before Ryan Chu zipped a scorcher of a shot from the left face-off circle to win it in the first minute of overtime.
Kyrgyzstan's encounter with Malaysia much resembled a sixty-minute powerplay drill, despite the Malaysians not conceding any penalties; even an experienced hockey watcher may have taken a while to realise they were actually playing with five skaters. The White Hawks clocked up the exact same tally of goals as they managed in the same match-up last year, and they'll be slightly disappointed not to have bettered it having reached that mark with over seven minutes to go.
Iran's energy was again impressive, and deserved their first-period parity with the Bosnians as they ruffled the feathers of their technically superior opponents. Again though they couldn't keep their discipline up for the full stretch, and their shape got more ragged as the game wore on - the successive Bosnia breakaway goals in the third were particularly telling. Chalk it up to a lack of experience and fitness I guess; I like their attitude to the game and hope to see them improve as the team plays more international hockey.
