The B-Pool 2025 World Para Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from September 6-11. The event will feature six national teams competing for two berths for promotion to A-Pool and will be hosted by the Kazakhstan Para Hockey Federation at the Tarlan Arena, which already hosted B-Pool two years ago.

Competition format and participating teams

The championship will follow a round-robin format, with teams battling to take the top two places and secure promotion to A-Pool. On the other hand, the team finishing in last place will be relegated to C-Pool for next season.

Participating teams include Italy, Japan, Sweden, Kazakhstan, France and Finland. In addition, the tournament will define two places for the Qualification Tournament for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, to be held later this year.

Kazakhstan and Para Ice Hockey

Michelle Laflamme, senior manager of World Para Ice Hockey, highlighted Kazakhstan’s role in the growth of the sport: “On behalf of the Para Ice Hockey community, I would like to thank Kazakhstan for its continued leadership. By once again hosting the B-Pool World Championship, they are demonstrating their unwavering commitment to the advancement of the sport, while raising the standard for future hosts.”

Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is the country’s second largest city with more than one million inhabitants. The city is home to several professional ice hockey teams, including Barys Astana, which forms the basis of the Kazakh national team that will compete at the IIHF World Championship 2025.

History of the B-Pool World Championship

This will be the 11th edition of the World Para Ice Hockey B-Pool Championship and the fourth time it has been held in Asia. In last year’s edition, held in Skien, Norway, the host team took the gold, while Germany won the silver and Sweden the bronze.