Well, that’s one way to start a hockey tournament.
In one of the biggest upsets in IIHF history, Thailand defeated Kuwait 57-0 in the opening match of the U-18 Asian and Oceania Championship on Tuesday.
Nine teams from two groups—Thailand, Kuwait, India, Indonesia, Iran, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, and the United Arab Emirates—are competing in the tournament held in Uzbekistan. Kuwait played their first U-18 match on Tuesday, and it’s safe to say that the openers don’t come much stronger than this one.
We can add this game to the list. pic.twitter.com/BAG0sN1fke
– Hockey Worldwide (@H0ckeyWorldwide) April 23, 2024
Thailand beat Kuwait 122-1, with Adeeb Alhalawa registering Kuwait’s only goal in the net.
Kingston’s Zi-Jun Pan made the save to preserve the shutout. In Thailand, six players scored ten goals or more, with Natapat Patong leading the list with seven goals and thirteen points. Along with Thananutch Khultanthorn and Natchayatorn Yannakornthanapunt, he was tied for three goals.
Thailand won bronze at the last two Division IIIB U-18 World Championships.
At the same level, Thailand lost the deadliest international hockey game ever to South Korea in 1998, conceding 92 goals. Additionally, they conceded 52 goals against Kazakhstan during the 2007 Asian Winter Games.
To ease Kuwait’s pain a little, Iran (19-0 loss to Uzbekistan) and India (32-0 loss to Mongolia) also suffered from strong players on the first day. In their opening game of the tournament on Wednesday, Kuwait will try to recover against Malaysia.
The round robin competition will conclude on April 28. The next day, the placement and playoff games will begin. On April 30, there will be a championship game.
