Sweden raced into an early 3-0 advantage after the first period, with Niklas Rakos, Rasmus Lundgren and Peter Ojala all scoring, and did not look back, as despite conceding in the second period, they scored a further five goals to claim a morale boosting 8-1 victory.

"We knew that they would not keep up with us if we play our high-tempo game," Per Kasperi, who scored a brace, stated afterwards.

"We played with a high tempo and let the puck do the work.

"In the second period, we were caught a little bit on our heels, but in the third we got the momentum back."

The opening day of the six team tournament saw Britain fall to a comprehensive defeat to an inspired Slovakian team.

Slovakia got off to a perfect start with Marian Ligda and Martin Joppa scoring twice in quick succession, and before the first period was over Peter Stit fired into the British net to all but end the contest.

The top two from the 2015 Pool-B event will be promoted to Pool-A for 2017 ©Getty Images



The Slovakian side showed no mercy, scoring three more times while keeping Britain out, to seal the 6-0 victory.

South Korea, who warmed up for the World Championship Pool B by competing in the IPC World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Leduc, Canada, also began the tournament in rampant form as they demolished Austria.

Having scored twice in the first and second periods of the match to take a 4-0 lead, the South Korean's upped their performance further in the third and final period, claiming a further five goals to earn a 9-0 win, which included a hat-trick for Seung-Hwan Jung.

The result propelled them to the top of the fledging B-Pool table and they will look to maintain that position by securing victory over Poland on Tuesday (March 17), while Britain face Austria and hosts Sweden take on Slovakia.

The top two teams at the end of the World Championship B-Pool will earn promotion places to the World Championship A-Pool, subsequently boosting their chances of qualifying for the Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympics, with the top five finishes in the 2017 World Championship A-Pool gaining a berth at the Games.

However the bottom team in Pool B when the competition draws to a close on March 21 will be relegated to the new C-Pool tournament.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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