The matches of the jubilee, tenth Turkmenistan Ice Hockey Championship have begun at the ice arena of the Ashgabat Winter Sports Center "Galkan". Six teams are participating in the tournament, which will compete for medals in a two-round system. This was announced by the Chairman of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan Jora Hudayberdyev, the newspaper "Neutral Turkmenistan" reports.

The main favorite of the competition, the publication notes, is the team "Galkan" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan, which has won all the previous nine national championships. According to the Chairman of the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan, Jora Hudaberdyev, the current champions have every chance to retain the championship title, since most of the team's players are part of the national team.

This year, "Galkan" has already demonstrated a high level of play, winning the international tournament among club teams, which was held in April in Turkmenistan with the participation of teams from 10 countries, including clubs from Belarus and Russia.

The teams "Şir", "Oguzhan", "Nesil", "Watançy" and "Merdana" will also compete for medals in the national championship. The championship will last until the middle of next month, all matches will be held at the ice arena of the "Galkan" Winter Sports Center. The tournament was organized by the Hockey Federation of Turkmenistan and the State Committee for Physical Culture and Sports with the assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.