Ice hockey: Great Britain need one point from final match to seal promotion

GB celebrate ice hockey winDean Woolley

GB sit top of Group A with 11 points and will be promoted to the elite group with a tie or a victory

Great Britain will seal promotion to the top-level World Championship group if they earn one point in their final Division I Group A match against Italy on Friday.

GB beat Romania 7-0 in Nottingham to remain unbeaten at the tournament.

They had already secured victories over South Korea, Poland and Lithuania and top the table by one point.

Brett Perlini, Liam Kirk and Jonathan Phillips scored three goals in four minutes to put GB in control.

Johnny Curran, Sam Ruopp and Josh Waller all added to the tally with their first GB goals, while Evan Mosey got his first goal of the tournament.

Ben Bowns turned away all 13 of Romania's shots for his third shutout of the tournament while David Phillips earned his 100th GB cap.

Britain were relegated from the Championship group last year along with Italy but two points against them on Friday would secure the Division I gold medal.

However, should Italy win in normal time, Britain will have to rely on Romania beating Poland to secure promotion.

The event sees six teams - Great Britain, Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Korea and Romania - fighting for places in the 16-team elite Championship group. The top two teams earn promotion to the 2024 top-level World Championship in the Czech Republic.

The 2023 World Championship, which features the United States, Canada and defending champions Finland, begins on 12 May.

Elsewhere in Wednesday's matches, Poland beat South Korea 7-0 and Italy secured their third win of the competition, a 6-4 victory over Lithuania.

Remaining Group A schedule

Friday, 5 May (all times BST)

Poland v Romania - 12:30

Lithuania v Korea - 16:00

Italy v Great Britain - 19:30

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