Poland Outclasses Thailand 9-1 to Grab 13th Place – 07.12.2018

Poland and Thailand have already met here in Prague in a group-stage match, which the Poles won 5-2. And the 13th place match had the same winner. Michał Sieńko recorded four points (1+3) and became Poland’s scoring leader with 10 points (3+7), as Poland takes the final 13th place and Thailand ends up in the 14th position.

Poland was much a better team in the first period and they confirmed this by scoring five goals. The 22-year-old Michał Sieńko, who was his team’s second best scoring leader before the match with 6 points (2+4), scored once and added two assists. Daniel Chochowski, on the other hand, tallied his first career World Championship goal. But the Thais didn’t give up and kept fighting. In the 19th minute, they were awarded a power play, which they failed to convert before the break.

However, they were more successful in the remainder of the power-play after the intermission. Just nine seconds into the middle period they managed to capitalize on the one-man advantage and Jeerayut Yaemyim scored his first career WFC goal despite playing at his second championship already. Thailand’s scoring leader Alexander Rinefalk assisted on this goal. The pace of the game slackened in the second period as the Poles eased up. But the Thais definitely deserve credit for their efforts – they showed some good offensive moments and managed to create several scoring opportunities. On the other hand, it was the Poles who increased their lead to 7-1 with goals by Karol Pelczarski and Maciej Sieńko.

The teams switched their roles for the last period. Thailand controlled the ball and it was up to them to build attacks and show some creativity. But Poland defended well and the Thais were finding it hard getting into clear scoring opportunities. In the 52nd minute, Jimmy Holmstrom missed a penalty shot for Thailand, while on the other side of the rink Poland managed to score twice to set the final score are 9-1.