2015 Bandy World Championship
2015 Bandy World Championship 2015 was the XXXVth Bandy World Championship. At the FIB congress held during the XXXIVth World Championship in 2014, it was announced that Khabarovsk in Russia had been elected as host city. It was also decided the Group A tournament would be played around the end of March/beginning of April, which means it would take place when the national bandy leagues in the major bandy playing countries, Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden, would be finished for the season. Group B was played between February 1 and 6 and hit a new  record attendance, already before the match for the bronze and the final. High profile people who visited the Group A tournament include the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, and the President of Ice Hockey Federation of Russia, the legendary goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. The mascots of the games were a bear and a tiger, named Тоша and Ероша, were inspired by the animals in the Coat of arms of Khabarovsk. Host selection. On 5 December 2013, the Russian news agency AmurMedia (which quoted Russian Internet site Sportbox.ru) reported that the decision on host city was made, after a decision by  the working committee of FIB. The candidates were: Minsk withdrew its candidacy in August 2013. Khabarovsk won over Helsinki because there is an indoor arena in the city. Participating teams. Division B. Latvia won Division B in 2014 and was thus promoted to Division A for 2015. However, the Latvians made an application to play in Division B this year too, and this was approved by the Federation of International Bandy. Latvia was therefore playing in both divisions this year. This was made possible by the divisions not being played at the same time, Division B was being played in  early February while Division A was being played in late March/early April. Division A. After drawn games in the group stage, a penalty shootout is held to determine final placings in the event of teams finishing on equal points Preliminary round. Group A. "All times are local (UTC+10)." Source: Division B. Preliminary round. Group B. Matches in Group B are 60 minutes in duration rather than the standard 90 minutes. Knockout stage. 7th place game. The match was 60 minutes rather than standard 90 minutes. 5th place game. The match was 60 minutes rather than standard 90 minutes. 8th  place game. The match was 60 minutes rather than standard 90 minutes.