ST. GALLEN – With a little more than two years to go until the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade, Swiss University Sports is going all in on the ice rink. For the first time in the history of the Universiade, two Swiss ice hockey teams, men and women, will be sent to the multi-sport event. The two teams will travel to Siberia as members of the over 100 members strong delegation to participate in the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade from 2 to 12 March.
While the athletes for the teams are still to be selected, the coaching staff is set already. Manuele Celio will coach the men’s team in Krasnoyarsk. The 52 year old former professional ice hockey player currently works as the talent director at HC Ambrì-Piotta. The players will profit from is experience as under-18 coach of the Swiss national team and as a 182-times national team player for Switzerland. The women’s team will be led by 40 year old Andrea Kröni, former under-18-women’s national team coach and current coach of the SC Weinfelden women’s team in the first Swiss division. She also oversees the talent department of the EHC Kreuzlingen-Konstanz ice hockey club.
For Swiss University Sports, Krasnoyarsk 2019 is seen as a dress rehearsal for the Lucerne 2021 Winter Universiade in the not too distant future. “As a ice hockey nation, we want to show the best performances to our national and local fans in Lucerne. The experience we gain in Krasnoyarsk will certainly be very helpful for our team and staff in that regard,” Marilen Matter Graf, head of competitive sport at Swiss University Sports says.
In 2021, the 30th edition of the Winter Universiade will take place in Central Switzerland as a joint project of the six centrally located Swiss cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zug. The 11-day event from 21 to 31 January exists of nine different sports: Curling, Ice Hockey, Figure Skating, Short Track as well as Alpine Skiing, Snowboard, Cross-Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing and Biathlon.
With the two Swiss teams coming to Krasnoyarsk in March 2019, a 49-year drought will come to an end. The last time Switzerland played in the ice hockey tournament of a Universiade was 1970 in Rovaniemi, Finland. The men’s team finished in the fifth place out of five teams.
Find more information about Lucerne 2021 via this link.
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