About the championship
For the men, there will be World Cup games for the first time in four years while the ladies played as recently as last year. The fact that both men and women play at the same time is a historic event, says Pär Gustafsson, Secretary General of the Swedish Bandy Association.
"It's never happened before. Therefore, it feels extra big, fun and important. Especially considering the world situation and that we need to continue to lift the international bandy, and there Sweden is taking the "lead" now, says Pär Gustafsson.
The men's World Cup has not been staged since 2019 due to the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February.
Russia, which was supposed to be the organizer of the 2023 Men's World Cup, and Belarus are excluded to the World Cup tournament.
The ladies have been playing the World Cup since 2004 and the upcoming tournament will be the twelfth. Sweden has ten World Cup gold medals. So far the only miss was in 2014 when Russia defeated Sweden 3-1 in the final. The last gold came a year ago when Sweden was completely superior to Norway in the final and won 12-0. This year, Norway has declined participation in the World Cup and since Russia does not participate either, it looks bright in advance for another Swedish gold.
On the men's side, the World Cup has been played since 1957 and Sweden stands at 12 World Cup golds. The latest in the home World Cup in 2017 when Russia was defeated 4-3 in Sandviken. As Russia is not included this time, the favourites land on Sweden with Finland as the main challenger.
Participating nations
Men's Group A: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Kazakhstan, USA.
Men's Group B: Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Switzerland.
Women's Group A: Sweden, Finland, USA.
Women's Group B: Netherlands, Ukraine, Switzerland.
Sweden's schedule
March 28: Men's Norway-Sweden (13.30pm)
March 29: Sweden-USA men (16.30), USA-Sweden, women (19.00)
30 March: Sweden-Finland, women (19.00)
March 31: USA-Sweden, women (10.00), Finland-Sweden women (17.00), Sweden-Finland men (19.00)
April 1: Kazakhstan-Sweden men (16.30)
April 2: Women's Final (13.00) Men's Final (16.30)
SVT will broadcast both finals on Sunday, April 2.
12.50 SVT1/SVT Play Final ladies
16.20 SVT1/SVT Play Final men
Full schedule
March
28, 10:30 a.m. USA-Finland, men's
13:30 p.m. Norway-Sweden, men
29 March
08.00 Ukraine-Switzerland, women 10.00 Finland-USA, women 12.00 Finland-Kazakhstan, men 14.30 Switzerland-Netherlands, women 16.30 Sweden-USA, men
19.00 USA-Sweden, women
30 March
08.00 Netherlands-Ukraine, women 10.00 Finland-Norway, men 12.30 USA-Finland, women 14.30 Switzerland-Ukraine, women 16.30 Kazakhstan-USA, men
19.00 Sweden-Finland, women
31 March
08.00 Netherlands-Switzerland, women 10.00 Sweden-USA, women 12.30 Kazakhstan-Norway, men 15.00 Ukraine-Netherlands, women
17.00 Finland-Sweden, women
19.00 Sweden-Finland, men
1 April
09.30 Group B team 2-Group B team 3, women (match for 5th place)11.30 USA-Norway, men 14.00 Group A team 2-Group B team 3, women (semifinal)
16.30 Kazakhstan-Sweden, men
2 April
07.45 Losers of the match team2/team3 team 1 group B, women (match for 3rd prize)10.15 Team 3-Team 4, men (match for 3rd prize)
13.00 Final, women
16.30 Final, men
Clip: Double bandy party in Åby: "A unique opportunity"
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Double bandy party in Åby: "A unique opportunity" Photo: SVT/TT