2006 FIB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEN

Stockholm and 6 other cities, Sweden, 28 January-5 February

The tournament was attended by 12 countries. Group A included the reigning champions Sweden, Kazakhstan, Norway, Finland, Russia and Belarus.

Group B included the Netherlands, Canada, Mongolia, Hungary, Estonia and USA. Mongolia entered the World Championship for the first time. Initially, Kyrgyzstan also had to participate, but the country dropped out at the last minute.

Each group was played in a single series. The top four teams in Group A advanced to the playoffs and the last placed team played a qualifying game against the winner of Group B for the participation in next World Championship Group A.

The tournament was held in 7 different cities in Sweden: Eskilstuna, Gustavsberg, Katrineholm, Linköping, Oxelösund, Stockholm and Västerås.

In the semi finals, Russia beat Kazakhstan 13-3. The most powerful player in Russia was Sergei Obuhov with 5 goals. In the second semi final, Finland and Sweden met. To get to the finals, Finland should have made history, Finland had won against Sweden in the preliminary series, but Finland had never won against Sweden twice during a World Championship. Sweden won the game 3-1.

Finland won the bronze medal victory against Kazakhstan 7-4. The finale between Sweden and Russia turned into a tense play. The final was followed by 8,731 spectators at Zinkensdamm in Stockholm, who saw Russia win 3-2.

1 RUSSIA        

Roman Geizel, Kirill Hvalko, Ilya Handayev, Pavel Franz, Alexei Chizhov, Andrei Zolotariov, Mikhail Svechnikov, Sergei Lomanov, Alexander Tiukavin, Sergei Obuhov, Maksim Chernich, Yuri Pogrebnoi, Yuri Vikulin, Oleg Tchubinski, Dmitri Saveliev, Rinat Shamsutov, Yevgeny Ivanushkin

2 SWEDEN         

Andreas Bergwall, Anders Svensson, Anders Bruun, Per Hellmyrs, Andreas Westh, Daniel Mossberg, Daniel Eriksson, Johan Andersson, Stefan Söderholm, Daniel Liw, Stefan Erixon, Anders Östling, Magnus Olsson, Patrik Nilsson, David Karlsson, Henrik Hagberg

3 FINLAND

Pasi Hiekkanen, Timo Oksanen, Petteri Lampinen, Kimmo Huotelin, Markus Hiukka, Iivo Wegelius, Sami Laakkonen, Samuli Niskanen, Ari Holopainen, Janne Väkiparta, Mikko Aarni, Mika Mutikainen, Tommy Österberg, Rasmus Lindqvist, Marko Miinala, Ville Aaltonen

     BEST GOAL SCORERS GROUP A
18 goals
Sergei Obuhov, Russia
15 goals
Vyatcheslav Bronnikov, Kazakhstan
14 goals
Sergei Lomanov, Russia
11 goals
Sergei Chernetsky, Belarus
10 goals
David Karlsson, Sweden
9 goals
Patrik Nilsson, Sweden
8 goals
Yevgeny Ivanushkin, Russia
7 goals
Pål Hansen, Norway

BEST PLAYERS

Goalkeeper
Andreas Bergwall, Sweden

Defender
Andreas Westh, Sweden

Midfielder
Samuli Niskanen, Finland

Forward
Sergei Lomanov, Russia