Vänersborg, Borås, Ale and Trollhättan, Sweden
26 January-2 February (A)
21-25 January (B)
The World Championship for the A- and B-nations was played in Sweden with Vänersborg as the capital city. From the beginning, the tournament was supposed to be held in Irkutsk, Russia. Due to the fact that the planned arena construction there risked not being completed on time, it was moved to Sweden. Borås and Ale were complementary venues in the A-group and Trollhätten was a complementary location for the B-group.
Debutants in the championship were Great Britain and Switzerland. Both countries participated in the European Championship already in 1913, but the sport died for many years and was only resumed in recent years.
Somalia was allowed to participate after that Mongolia decided to withdraw from the tournament.
RUSSIA WORLD CHAMPION!
Almaz Mirgazov – Russian Golden Boy! Photo: Private
Russia won the Golden Final against Sweden after a dramatic game. Sweden was in the lead several times in the game, but Russia scored 5-5 at the end of regular time. As usual, it was a coincidence that decided the game.
Almaz Mirgazov was the last happy scorer for Russia.
The goals in the game:
1-0 Christoffer Edlund (2), 1-1 Evegeny Dergaev (13) Penalty stroke, 2-1 Johan Esplund (39), 3-1 Erik Pettersson (42), 3-2 Almaz Mirgazov (63), 4-2 Christoffer Fagerström (67), 4-3 Evgeny Dergaev (71), 5-3 Christoffer Edlund (75), 5-4 Almaz Mirgazov (79), 5-5 Yury Vikulin, (89) and 5-6 Almaz Mirgazov (sudden death 1:27)
BEST PLAYERS IN THE TOURNAMENT!
Erik Pettersson
Goal keeper
Kimmo Kyllönen, Finland
Defender
Martin Johansson, Sweden
Midfielder
Maxim Ishkeldin, Russia
Forward and most valuable player
Erik Pettersson, Sweden
Best scorer
Felix Callander, Norway 17 goals
BEST FAIR PLAY TEAM
Sweden – Only 30 minutes on penalty bench