The Qatari national ice hockey team () is the national men's ice hockey team of Qatar. They are controlled by the Qatar Winter Sports Committee and has been a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) since 18 May 2012. Qatar is currently not ranked in the IIHF World Ranking and have not entered in any World Championship tournaments or at any Olympic Games, but have only played once in the Challenge Cup of Asia Division I tournament in 2016, a regional tournament for lower-tier hockey nations in Asia.
History The sport was mostly unknown in Qatar, until the establishment of the first edition of the Qatar Ice Hockey Championship, with the participation of four teams to include Qatari, Canadian and English Czech's and Finnish players organized by the Sports Affairs Department of the Qatar Olympic Committee.Qatar Ice Hockey Championship at flickr.com Qatar's national team participated at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. The country has two ice rinks (Gondolania Ice Arena and City Centre Mall) with a two division hockey league providing official competition. The six teams for 2009–10 were the RasGas, Sandvipers, Qatar Qanucks, European Fitness Club, Sundogs, and CNAQ Breakers.
On 18 May 2012, Qatar was added as an official members by the IIHF. Qatar played its first game against Oman, which they lost 2–1. In 2014, Qatar participated in the Gulf Ice Hockey Championship. They played five games, losing four and winning one, earning the bronze medal against Oman 7–2. In 2018, Qatar was scheduled to compete in the Challenge Cup of Asia Division I tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but cancelled.
Qatar currently sits 31st in the Asian men’s ice hockey national team rankings, according to the specialized outlet AsianIceHockey.com.
Tournament record
GCC Gulf Championship YearHostResult2010 through 2012 Did not participate 2014 Kuwait City 3rd place 5 1 0 0 4 2016 Doha 2nd place 5 2 0 0 3
Challenge Cup of Asia YearHostResult2008 through 2015 Did not participate 2016 Bishkek 9th place 4 1 0 0 32017 through 2018 Did not participate
Asian Winter Games YearHostResult1986 through 2011 Did not participate 2017 Sapporo 17th place 3 0 0 0 3
All-time record As of 24 February 2017 Team 1 1 0 0 5 2 4 1 0 3 16 26 2 0 0 2 2 16 3 1 0 2 4 7 1 0 0 1 1 3 3 2 0 1 15 14 1 0 0 1 2 14 4 0 0 4 3 28Total 19 5 0 14 48 110
References
External links IIHF profile
Qatar Ice Hockey League Website