Championship finale set for Sunday between Iran and Belarus

The two undefeated sides took care of business against Estonia and Turkey to make for a winner-take-all final on Sunday

The Friendship Cup 2015 is in full swing as the two opening day winners continued their successful ways and now hold destiny in their own hands. Iran and the hosts, Belarus, both won tight matches on day 1 but their improvement showed on the second day as they both controlled everything they could and earned very impressive wins. The final day of the event will be on Sunday with the two sides who have only known victory in Belarus, Iran and Belarus, will face-off with one having to lose. The crown will be determined then and there as it will be the last match of the day and the event.

Iran won the opening match of the day by a score of 10-3 but that final tally does no justice to how thrilling the first frame was. Estonia, widely considered underdogs, scored first and shocked the Iranians. The Asian side struck back but the Blues continued to fight and thanks to three first period goals from Trusalu, the Estonians kept the score knotted at 3-all going into the middle frame. The second period is where things changed for the lone non-European team in the tournament as the Princes of Persia rattled off the next seven goals and shutting out the European side in the final two periods. Iran built the lead up to 10-3 by scoring five in the second period but then slowing down for their lowest period output of the day, two goals in the final frame. 

Belarus had a much tighter match from start to finish, coming out on top only by a score of 2-0 over Turkey, but the introduction or beginning were just the same as the Friendship Cup’s opening match, a deadlock after the first period. The hosts were unable to get past the Turkish in the fist period, but the Crescent Stars were not able to break down the hosts’ defense either and the score remained 0-0 after one. The second and third periods were just as close but the most impressive thing was the defense of Belarus, feeding off the crowd, they were able to quiet the entire Turkey offense, which is no small feat. The Belarusians were able to get timely goals from two of their, and the worlds’ renowned scorers, Miranovich and Bryshstel, one in the middle frame and one in the last 12 minutes, to secure the very contested 2-0 win.