Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 9 September 2023, the international championship Pro Hokei Ligasy starts, where the Tashkent hockey club “Humo” will compete for first place.

The first matches will be held on Saturday and Sunday in Astana against the champion of Kazakhstan "Nomad". Live broadcast of the championship games can be viewed on the Internet. Last season, these two teams met in the playoff final, Humo won the first match, but then lost in four games in a row and won second place in the championship. This year the team expects to take the Pro Hokey Ligasy gold medals.

The start of the hockey season in Tashkent will take place on 13 and 14 September at the Humo Arena stadium, where in HC Humo it will play with HC Saryarka from Karaganda, the previous champion of Kazakhstan. In total, 8 championship matches will be held at Humo Arena in September.

Earlier, on 14 August of this year in Grodno (Belarus), HC “Humo” took part in the Euro-Asian Friendship Cup with the participation of teams from Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The team scored three points from three matches and took third place. And then in the prestigious Kazakhstan Cup, HC “Humo” won six matches out of six, and won its first official trophy in history!

The Humo coaching staff, led by Evgeniy Popikhin, remained at full strength after an excellent result and second place last season. Evgeniy Nikolaevich is assisted by Andrey Nikishov, Roman Krivomazov and Gadel Gumerov. The club’s General Manager Juris Opulskis also remained in his post.

“We invite only those players who want to play for us and develop Uzbek hockey. And if a player does not live up to expectations, we part with him,” said Evgeniy Popikhin, head coach of HC Humo.

Eight people from last year’s team remain in Humo. Both experienced and skilled players and young people came to the team. The team has become much faster. The captain this season will be center forward Ivan Fishchenko, silver medalist at the 2015 World Youth Championship.

According to forecasts, the main rival of Humo in the upcoming championship will be Arlan from Kokshetau. At the Kazakhstan Cup, the Tashkent team won two victories over this team, but both outside regular time. The club plans to continue its winning streak and win Pro Hokei Ligasy gold medals.