The Ukrainian national ice hockey team lost to the Japanese team in the final match of the 2023 World Championship in the IB Division. The match ended with the score 5:3. In the first period, Vadim Shakhraychuk's team conceded two goals without scoring a single one in return.. The second period was also left for the Japanese, who were leading 4:0 before the last 20 minutes.. In the final period, the Ukrainians conceded already in the first minute - the score became 5:0. Then our team managed to score three goals into the opponent's goal and close the gap, but it was not possible to avoid defeat by the " Earlier at the 2023 World Cup, the Ukrainian team lost to China in overtime (4:5), defeated Serbia (7:0), beat Estonia (7:4) and destroyed the Netherlands (14:2). Thus, the Ukrainian team finished second in the IB division with 10 points.. The group was won by the Japanese (15 points), who won all their matches and won a ticket to the second division (IA) of the World Cup for the next season. In turn, the Ukrainian national team remained in the third strongest division (IB) of the World Ice Hockey Championship, where it will play for the fifth time in a row next year.