Coach Yuri Faikov says UAE must improve despite watching his team defeat Kuwait 5-1 in their opening match of the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia at Zayed Sports City ice rink on Sunday.

Assistant captain Juma Al Dhaheri scored twice and Mubarak Al Mazrouei once to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.

Kuwait pulled one back through Mohammad Al Ajmi, but goals from Ali Al Mazrouei and Saeed Al Nuaimi sealed the win as UAE moved to second spot behind Chinese Taipei, who had thrashed Mongolia 10-3 earlier.

Faikov was pleased with the win but felt his players could have played better.

“The match wasn’t really difficult for us,” said the Belarusian, whose side today face Thailand, who defeated Hong Kong 2-1.

“With it being the first game of the competition I felt my players were a little bit nervous. I hope tomorrow (today) we can gain a bit more confidence and play better.

“I was satisfied with the performance ance overall, but the first and second periods we didn’t really play well. But next we face Thailand who are a good team and we have to play better.” 

UAE dominated the early stages of the match and were rewarded for their possession when Al Dhaheri rounded Kuwait’s goalkeeper Jasem Al Sarraf to give the hosts the lead.

The assistant captain then doubled his side’s lead when he slotted the ball into the roof of the net. The hosts grew in confidence minute by minute as Kuwait were unable to make any serious impact on the game.

It was soon 3-0 to the hosts when Al Mazrouei found the back of the net just before the end of the first period.

UAE began the second period as they did the first, but whatever Kuwait coach Marko Zidarevic said to his players seemed to work, as the Kuwaitis fought hard to gain possession.

Kuwait’s Meshal Al Ajmi had his side’s first shot on target in the second period but saw his effort blocked by UAE goalkeeper Khaled Al Suwaidi.

Mohammed Al Shamisi nearly made it 4-0 to UAE but Al Sarraf kept out the long range ef- fort. In the final period, Mohammad Al Ajmi pulled one back for Kuwait to make it 3-1.

However, the hosts restored their three-goal cushion through Ali Al Mazrouei, before Al Nuaimi got the fifth and final goal of the game.

RESULTS AND FIXTURES

Hong Kong 2-1 Thailand
Chinese Taipei 10-3 Mongolia
UAE 5-1 Kuwait
Today
13:00 Chinese Taipei v Kuwait
16:30 Hong Kong v Mongolia
20:00 UAE v Thailand

Venue: Zayed Sports City Ice Rink