U18 World Championships on the Ritten: Italy comes up short.

The IIHF Women's U18 World Championship, Division I, Group A, is not going as planned for Italy so far. After their opening loss to Norway, the "Azzurrine" also lost to France on Tuesday, this time 1-3. Germany and Japan each won their other two matches.

13 January 2026

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While Italy was coming off a 2-3 defeat against Norway, France surprisingly beat Germany 2-1 in overtime on Monday. And the French carried that enthusiasm into their match against the "Azzurrine." Clemence Boudin opened the scoring on the first power play of the game (6:35), and Manon Demessine added a second goal shortly after (11:44), assisted by Boudin. Italy, however, responded quickly, with captain Maddalena Bedont scoring before the end of the first period, assisted by Cristel Dalle Mulle, to make it 2-1 (15:48).

Immediately after the restart, Italy weakened itself with two penalties within half a second. France didn't need a second invitation and, with a two-player advantage, increased its lead to 3-1, with Boudin again finding the net (21:14). Italy pressed for a comeback, especially in the final period, but France defended solidly and prevented any further goals. Italy remains on zero points, while France sits in second place behind Japan.

Germany's premiere and Japan's resounding victory

Germany bounced back from their opening overtime loss to France in Tuesday's first game, securing a well-deserved 2-1 victory against Denmark. All goals were scored in the first period: Isabell Manns (41:25) and Aimee Georgi (41:46) scored twice in quick succession to give Germany a 2-0 lead, before Teresa Christensen pulled one back for Denmark (44:39). However, a comeback proved impossible.

In Tuesday afternoon's second game, Japan celebrated a goal fest against Norway and now leads the standings. Against the Scandinavians, who had defeated Italy 3-2 on Monday, Japan won by a staggering 12-0. In the first period, Hina Hayakawa (14:53) and Rino Tada (16:47/PP1) scored, while in the second period, Azumi Numabe (25:42), Ruka Kagaya (28:23/PP1), and Numabe again (37:10/PP1) added to the tally. In the final period, Norway's morale was already broken and Reina Kakuta (41.25), Momona Fuzukawa (41.38), Kika Terauchi (42.48), Nanaho Yamaguchi (44.17), Kakuta again (50.02/PP1) and Yamaguchi (52.27) as well as Momoka Okamura (55.57/PP1) made it a dozen.

The IIHF U18 Women's World Championship, Division I, Group A continues with a training day on Wednesday, before the next matches are scheduled for Thursday.

Keywords hockey