SÃO PAOLO – After Brazil staged its first national ice hockey championship for more than a decade last year, the second championship was decided this spring with 48 players at Eldorado Shopping in the country’s biggest city, São Paolo.

The championship was held on the 25-by-15-metre ice rink of the shopping mall with three skaters per line. And with more teams (7) from three states and more players (48) than in the first edition.

However, the winner remained. Sociedade Hipica de Campinas from the state of São Paolo can keep the trophy for one more year. The team won all games and had its toughest challenge in the final against Amparo but won 3-2.

Final ranking:
1. Sociedade Hipica de Campinas
2. Amparo NL São Paolo
3. Portuguesa de Desportos São Paolo
4. S.E. Palmeiras São Paolo
5. Hipica Horses São Paolo
6. Capelle’s Hockey School Minas Gerais
7. Q1 Sports Mato Grosso do Sul

Also U16 and U14 championships were held. The event was also a success behind the ice. Several media reported about the game including Globo, the biggest TV network in Brazil and with 80 million viewers per day on of the largest in the world. (Click here for a video about the Brazilian championship.)

“This was very important for the event and for our development,” said Alexandre Capelle Junior, the president of hockey association of the state of São Paolo and board member of the Brazilian Ice Hockey Association. “The objectives were successfully achieved, which allows the members of the organization to continue promoting other events.”

However, his next goal will be on a more common surface for the Brazilians: the 2009 IIHF InLine Hockey World Championship in Ingolstadt, Germany, which begins on Saturday.

MARTIN MERK