Russia beats Sweden to win gold in bandy final
The Sweden national bandy team went down 3-4 to Russia in the 2013 Bandy World Championships in western Sweden on Sunday.
While it was the same two teams as last year's championship match, the result was not as pleasing this time around for the Swedish side.
The Russians took home the victory in Vänersborg, western Sweden, beating the Swedes four goals to three in front of 5,643 spectators.
However, the game was not without controversy.
Towards the end of the match, a decision by the referee saw the remaining time in the final period jump from five minutes to three minutes and fifty seconds.
"First, the umpire said that there was five minutes, then he changed it to three, and so it somehow became a compromise of 3.50," said Swedish player Per Hellmyrs to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN).
"But everything felt unusually heavy today. Heavy with the game, heavy on the skates - we just didn't get our game going."
Kazakhstan, meanwhile, finished in third place after beating Finland 6-3.
Last week, Sweden made headlines after thrashing the Belarus side with a team record 28 goals to one.
Bandy, a game similar to ice-hockey but with a ball instead of a puck, a bigger rink, and more players, is a popular winter sport in Sweden.
A similar version of the sport, called "innebandy" in Swedish and floorball in English, is played indoors on hardwood and is also popular among Swedes.
The Local/og
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While it was the same two teams as last year's championship match, the result was not as pleasing this time around for the Swedish side.
The Russians took home the victory in Vänersborg, western Sweden, beating the Swedes four goals to three in front of 5,643 spectators.
However, the game was not without controversy.
Towards the end of the match, a decision by the referee saw the remaining time in the final period jump from five minutes to three minutes and fifty seconds.
"First, the umpire said that there was five minutes, then he changed it to three, and so it somehow became a compromise of 3.50," said Swedish player Per Hellmyrs to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN).
"But everything felt unusually heavy today. Heavy with the game, heavy on the skates - we just didn't get our game going."
Kazakhstan, meanwhile, finished in third place after beating Finland 6-3.
Last week, Sweden made headlines after thrashing the Belarus side with a team record 28 goals to one.
Bandy, a game similar to ice-hockey but with a ball instead of a puck, a bigger rink, and more players, is a popular winter sport in Sweden.
A similar version of the sport, called "innebandy" in Swedish and floorball in English, is played indoors on hardwood and is also popular among Swedes.
The Local/og
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