Slovenia beat Austria to return to the world's ice-hockey elite

The Slovenia-Austria match (Group A) was decisive for the return to the elite division, from where Slovenia were relegated last year.

It was only the first place that guaranteed direct advancement to the elite division championships in 2017.

It will, however, depend on the outcome of the elite division World Championships, which will be hosted by Russia in May, if the second-placed team makes it too.

Scoring for Slovenia today were Robert Saboli? and Ken Ograjen?ek.

Of the five games they played in Poland's Katowice since Saturday, Slovenia have lost only one, against Poland.

Commenting on the victory of his team, coach Nik Zupan?i? said: "These are hard games because they are decisive. We all knew what was at stake, so we were nervous at first and they were therefore the first to score."

"Then we started playing as a team...I can't credit...