Yunost and Gomel will meet at the Minsk Palace of Sports in the opening match of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Championship

August 31, Minsk / Sergei Vishnevsky - BELTA /. The two best teams of the Belarusian Extraleague - the capital's Yunost and Gomel - will play the opening match of the 18th Belarusian Ice Hockey Championship on September 3 at the Minsk Sports Palace, reports BELTA correspondent. Moreover, admission to the match, which will start at 18:30, will be free. This decision was made so that as many fans as possible could watch the meeting of the gold and silver medalists, as the stands of Yunost's home arena in the capital's Gorky Park can accommodate only 760 spectators, and the interest in the first match of last year's championship finalists is expected to be high. As explained in the press service of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Federation, one of the initiators of holding the match at the most capacious indoor arena in Minsk was the Minister of Sports and Tourism of Belarus Oleg Kachán. 14 teams will take part in the 18th Belarusian Ice Hockey Championship Extraleague. From our country, Yunost (Minsk), Gomel, Metallurg (Zhlobin), Khimvolokno (Mogilev), Vitebsk, Keramin (Minsk), Neman (Grodno), Khimik-SKA (Novopolotsk), Shinnik (Bobruisk), Brest, and Shakhtyor (Soligorsk) will compete. Latvia will be represented by Metalurgs (Liepaja) and Dinamo-Juniors (Riga), and Ukraine will delegate the Kyiv Sokol. On September 3, 5 more matches of the first round will take place: Khimvolokno - Sokol, Neman - Metallurg, Brest - Shinnik, Metalurgs - Keramin, Dinamo-Juniors - Shakhtyor. The opening round will conclude on September 4 with the match Vitebsk - Khimik-SKA. -0-