The year 2026 has already been a success for the Snow Leopards from Kazakhstan.
In early May, the Kazakhs won all five of their games (two wins coming in shootouts) to claim gold at the 2026 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A Championship. With that victory, Kazakhstan earned promotion to the 2027 IIHF World Championship.
But there’s still some meaningful hockey to be played before we turn the page on 2026 and Kazakhstan is now ready to hit the ice at the Asia Championship, which runs 5 November to 8 November in Jeonju. This will be the third installment of the Asia Championship, which was started by the IIHF to give Asia’s leading hockey nations increased opportunities on the international stage.
Kazakhstan won the past two events and enters this year’s tournament as the favourite, as its currently ranked 14th in the IIHF world rankings (4370 points), with competitors Japan (21st), South Korea (24th) and China (26th) all behind the Snow Leopards.
Kazakhstan scored a tournament-high 20 goals at the 2026 World Championship IA tournament and allowed a tournament-low eight goals, showcasing their balanced attack and stingy defence throughout the event.
Three players – defencemen Dmitriy Breus and Eduard Mikhailov and forward Artur Gatiyatov – tied for the best plus-minus in the event at plus-six each. Goalkeeper Audrey Shutov posted a 0.933 save percentage and 1.30 goals against average in three games and Gatiyatov and Arkadiy Shestakov finished among the top-10 in scoring with five points apiece.
Kazakhstan will try and utilize its superior depth at the Asia Championship.
Japan enters event with a lot to prove
This year hasn’t been as kind to the Japanese but they can use earlier disappointment as motivation at the tournament. Japan finished last with two points at the 2026 IIHF World Championship IA and was relegated to the IB tournament for 2027.
Japan lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to France to open the IA worlds, then got shutout 6-0 to Kazakhstan, before getting in the win column 3-2 in overtime over Lithuania. The team dropped its final two games of the tournament, 4-2 to Poland and 3-1 to Ukraine.
The Japanese should remember – and maybe draw strength from – the fact that they played Kazakhstan hard on the final day of the Asia Championship, losing 4-3 but coming close late in that game to tying things up.
South Korea looking for boost from home crowds
The 24th-ranked Koreans finished second at last year’s Asia Championship, the lone blemish on their record coming in an opening-day 4-2 loss to the eventual champs from Kazakhstan. With the event taking place in Jeonju, the Koreans can expect to be boosted by their fans and, perhaps, this is the year they knock the Kazaks off the Asia Champioship podium.
China, meanwhile, won silver at the 2026 World Championship IB event, just missing out on promotion o the IA tournament. The Chinese beat Estonia on the final day of the tournament but it was too little too late, as the Estonians had already secured the gold medal and only promotion spot to the next level.
China will look to improve on its last-place finish at last year’s Asia Championship, where it lost all three of its games.
The full tournament schedule is HERE and all games can be streamed on IIHF.TV
Keep it locked to IIHF.com for daily summaries and an event wrap-up.
In early May, the Kazakhs won all five of their games (two wins coming in shootouts) to claim gold at the 2026 IIHF World Championship Division I Group A Championship. With that victory, Kazakhstan earned promotion to the 2027 IIHF World Championship.
But there’s still some meaningful hockey to be played before we turn the page on 2026 and Kazakhstan is now ready to hit the ice at the Asia Championship, which runs 5 November to 8 November in Jeonju. This will be the third installment of the Asia Championship, which was started by the IIHF to give Asia’s leading hockey nations increased opportunities on the international stage.
Kazakhstan won the past two events and enters this year’s tournament as the favourite, as its currently ranked 14th in the IIHF world rankings (4370 points), with competitors Japan (21st), South Korea (24th) and China (26th) all behind the Snow Leopards.
Kazakhstan scored a tournament-high 20 goals at the 2026 World Championship IA tournament and allowed a tournament-low eight goals, showcasing their balanced attack and stingy defence throughout the event.
Three players – defencemen Dmitriy Breus and Eduard Mikhailov and forward Artur Gatiyatov – tied for the best plus-minus in the event at plus-six each. Goalkeeper Audrey Shutov posted a 0.933 save percentage and 1.30 goals against average in three games and Gatiyatov and Arkadiy Shestakov finished among the top-10 in scoring with five points apiece.
Kazakhstan will try and utilize its superior depth at the Asia Championship.
Japan enters event with a lot to prove
This year hasn’t been as kind to the Japanese but they can use earlier disappointment as motivation at the tournament. Japan finished last with two points at the 2026 IIHF World Championship IA and was relegated to the IB tournament for 2027.
Japan lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to France to open the IA worlds, then got shutout 6-0 to Kazakhstan, before getting in the win column 3-2 in overtime over Lithuania. The team dropped its final two games of the tournament, 4-2 to Poland and 3-1 to Ukraine.
The Japanese should remember – and maybe draw strength from – the fact that they played Kazakhstan hard on the final day of the Asia Championship, losing 4-3 but coming close late in that game to tying things up.
South Korea looking for boost from home crowds
The 24th-ranked Koreans finished second at last year’s Asia Championship, the lone blemish on their record coming in an opening-day 4-2 loss to the eventual champs from Kazakhstan. With the event taking place in Jeonju, the Koreans can expect to be boosted by their fans and, perhaps, this is the year they knock the Kazaks off the Asia Champioship podium.
China, meanwhile, won silver at the 2026 World Championship IB event, just missing out on promotion o the IA tournament. The Chinese beat Estonia on the final day of the tournament but it was too little too late, as the Estonians had already secured the gold medal and only promotion spot to the next level.
China will look to improve on its last-place finish at last year’s Asia Championship, where it lost all three of its games.
The full tournament schedule is HERE and all games can be streamed on IIHF.TV
Keep it locked to IIHF.com for daily summaries and an event wrap-up.