Calgary (Alberta) (AFP) – Valeria Pavlova and Victoria Kolisova scored 14 seconds midway through the second half as Russia opened the Women’s Hockey World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland on Saturday night.

Pavlova equalized the power of play with 9:11, and Kulesova led Russia equally with 8:57.

Maria Batalova scored in the third match and Valeria Merkusheva saved 19 goals in the first group match.

Alina Muller scored the first goal for Switzerland in the first half, and then retired in the second half due to a leg injury.

Previously, Nina Kristof scored twice in the first half to help Germany 3-0 against newly promoted Hungary in Group B. Julia Zorn also scored two goals and Jennifer Harris scored 19 times.

In the last match, also in Group B, Hikaru Yamashita scored early in the second half and Nana Fujimoto saved 26 goals in Japan’s first 1-0 win over Denmark.

Cassandra Rebstock Roma stopped Denmark’s 27 shots and lost 6-1 to the Czech Republic on Friday night.

The tournament was last held in Finland in 2019, and the United States won their fifth consecutive title. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the Nova Scotia event twice.

The United States opened Group A on Friday with a 3-0 win over Switzerland and Canada rebounded 5-3 over Finland. In Group B, the Czech Republic defeated Denmark 6-1.

All five teams in Group A and the top three teams in Group B qualify for the quarter-finals.

The United States will meet Finland on Sunday.

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