1991 FIB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEN

Helsinki and Porvoo, Finland, 17-24 March

The 1991 World Championship was the 17th ever. It was the fifth World Championship held in Finland. The opening of the tournament was conducted by Prime Minister Harri Holkeri. 

The World Championships were played on a new system, for the first time the teams were divided into two groups. Group A was played by USSR, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Group B was played by the USA, Canada, Hungary and the Netherlands for the first time. The teams played single games in their groups. The top three teams in Group A went straight to the semi-finals and placed 4th in qualifying for the semi finals with the winner of Group B.

The opening game between Finland and Sweden were to be played on the artificial ice in Kallio. The game between Finland and Sweden was played 43 minutes into the game, when the score was 1-1, as the ice softened and melted so that the referees were forced to suspend the game. The game was played again that night on the artificial ice in Oulu.

USSR won the championship, by final game 4-3 against Sweden. Finland received the bronze medal. The 1991 World Championship was the last of USSR. In the next tournament it will be Russia.

1 USSR          

Mikhail Leschinski, Pavel Franz, Andrei Sizov, Viktor Shakalin, Alexander Tsyganov, Yuri Lahonin, Sergei Lomanov, Igor Gapanovich, Valery Grachev, Alexei Diakov, Vitali Anufrienko, Maxim Poteshkin, Nikolai Yarovich, Vyacheslav Arhipkin, Vladimir Janko (Head coach)

2 SWEDEN         

Mikael Forssell, Per-Olof Petterson, Stefan Jonsson, Joe Lönngren, Kjell Berglund, Leif Lundberg, Roger Karlsson, Per Johansson, Hans Johansson, Ola Johansson, Stefan Åkerlind, Per Fosshaug, Jonas Claesson, Ola Fredricson, Niclas Johannesson, Rolf Käck (Head coach)

3 FINLAND

Jorma Saastamoinen, Ben Söderling, Markku Komula, Mauri Kåhlman, Markku Niemitalo, Esko Korhonen, Esa Määttä, Risto Kontturi, Jouni Vesterinen, Kari Peuhkuri, Esko Tammilehto, Jukka Ohtonen, Samuli Niskanen, Ari Holopainen, Lasse Laakkonen, Mika Sillgren, Pekka Kurki, Antti Parviainen (Head coach)

BEST GOAL SCORER

Jonas Claesson, Sweden — 7 goals

BEST PLAYERS

Goalkeeper
Jorma Saastamoinen, Finland

Defender
Markku Komula, Finland

Midfielder
Ola Fredricson, Sweden

Forward
Jonas Claesson, Sweden