GROUPS FOR THE IPCH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

The drawing ceremony for the IPCH World Championship 2018 in Italy, has taken place tonight in the Press room of Dacia Arena, Udine. A total of 8 nations was randomly divided into 2 groups. The drawing ceremony was in collaboration with Udinese Calcio 1896.

The drawing ceremony started with a press conference, which was attended by a lot of important figures in this sport. The complete event was broadcasted by Udinese TV and on the IPCH Facebook page.

Stefano Occhialini, Chairman of the WC IWAS Powerchair Hockey, shared that he was very proud to be the chairman of such a big organization, and was thankful to the Italian federation of Powerchair Hockey (FIWH) for this opportunity.

Also present were Antonio Spinelli (president of the Italian federation for Powerchair Hockey (FIWH), Fabio Rodo (Chairman of IWAS Powerchair Hockey) and Benedetta De Cecco, who is responsible for the World Championship’s Public Relations and Marketing.

The Mayor of Udine, Furio Honsell, was very proud that Udine will be hosting the IWAS WC Powerchair Hockey. He feels there can’t be any future without an inclusive society. He referred to the 2030 strategic and development target of the United Nations to build an inclusive society, and sees inclusive sports as a corner stone of our society.

At the drawing ceremony, Kevin Lasagna, striker of the football club Udinese Calcio, randomly picked the participating nations’ labels out of the bowl. This resulted in the following two groups for the WC:

Only The Netherlands and Belgium had already been awarded a group, because they finished 1st and 2nd at the past World Championship in Germany in 2014.

Niels ten Hagen, vice-president of IWAS Powerchair Hockey, was very excited. “This is another big step forward for the development of Powerchair Hockey.” He has full confidence it will be an excellent tournament next year.

The IPCH World Championship will take place from 24 September to 1 October 2018 in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. 8 nations from 3 continents will compete for gold. For USA, it’s their first participation in an IPCH World Championship. This is both great for the development of Powerchair Hockey internationally and nationally in USA.