Japan defeated Korea 4-1 (1-1, 1-0, 2-0) in Tokyo on Saturday, to become the 16th and last team to qualify for the 2004 IIHF World Championship in the Czech Republic (April 24 – May 9).

In the 68^th IIHF World Championship, Japan will play in Group C in Ostrava together with Sweden, Russia and Denmark. Three teams will qualify for the second round while the last placed team will play relegation games. Click here for complete schedule.

Korea surprisingly took a 1-0 lead through Dong-Hwan Song at 15.10 of the first period, but Japan got the equalizer just 27 seconds later when Hiroki Chiba scored. Junichi Takahashi gave the home team a 2-1 lead midway through the second period and Taro Nihei put all things beyond doubt with a pair of goals 38 seconds apart with six minutes left in the game.

Taro Nihei also assisted on Japan’s two first goals, giving him four points (2+2) on the night. Japan outshot Korea 39-15. It was the first game for the newly appointed Canadian coach of Team Japan, Glen Williamson, who can now focus on preparing the Japanese team for the upcoming world championship.

As of the 2004 IIHF World Championship, the special status of the Far East Qualifying team comes to an end. Since 1998, the Far East Qualifying team has had a direct entry to the IIHF World Championship. This means that, if Japan finishes 15^th or 16^th in Czech Republic 2004, the team will be relegated to the division I championship.

Szymon Szemberg

www.iihf.com