Russia (bbabo.net), - On Friday, the Russian national team was the first to guarantee itself access to the quarterfinals of the men's hockey tournament, in which, starting from the 2010 Olympics, 12 teams traditionally participate, divided into three groups. And what will happen to those who take third place in the first stage or lose all their matches? understands the intricacies of the tournament format.
If until 2010, following the results of the group tournament, the weakest teams packed their bags and went home, then at the Games in Vancouver, the International Ice Hockey Federation decided to try out a new format in which even all the lost matches do not deprive the team of the chance to compete for medals. This, according to the leaders of the IIHF, was to increase interest in the tournament and give it a small element of chance. And since the 2010 Games, the updated format has taken root.
Now about how the current men's tournament is going. At the first, group stage, all 12 teams are divided into 3 groups of 4 teams. After the round-robin tournament, a general table is built, which will take into account the place in the group, points scored, goal difference and the highest number of goals. All three group winners automatically advance to the quarter-finals, along with the best runner-up team.
Well, then the remaining 8 teams play knockout, according to the rating in the table after the group stage. What is the rating? Let's take the 2018 Games table after the group stage as an example. Moreover, then Germany reached the decisive match, becoming only the third in the preliminary round in its group.
1. Sweden - 9 points (1st place in the group)
2. Czech Republic - 7 points (1st place in the group)
3. Russia - 6 points (1st place in the group)
4. Canada - 7 points (best second place)
5. Finland - 6 points (2nd place in the group)
6. Slovenia - 4 points (2nd place in the group)
7. USA - 4 points (3rd place in the group)
8. Switzerland - 3 points (3rd in the group)
9. Germany - 2 points (2nd place in the group)
10. Slovakia - 4 points (4th in the group)
11. Norway - 1 point (4th place in the group)
12. Korea - 0 points (4th place in the group)
The fifth team will meet with the twelfth, the sixth with the eleventh, the seventh with the tenth, and the eighth with the ninth. The winners of these matches advance to the quarter-finals, the losers go home.
In the 1/4 finals, the eighth team will play with the first, the second with the seventh and so on. That is, the best-rated team in the semi-final will not play with the winner of one of the two groups, but will meet in the worst case with the best of the second places.
Then everything goes according to the standard formula: quarter-finals, semi-finals, a match for third place and the final, which, as we have already shown, any of the 12 teams can theoretically reach.
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