By Gary Anderson

October 23 - Florian Planker once again proved the main man for Italy by bagging two goals in their victory over SwedenTwo more strikes from top scorer Florian Planker ensured reigning European champions Italy remain on track for Sochi 2014 as they saw off the challenge of Germany on the third day of action at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Qualifying Tournament in Turin.

South Korea also recorded their third straight win in the competition with an impressive win over Sweden, leaving themselves and Italy sitting on nine points and both nations on the verge of securing their places at Sochi 2014.

Top seeds Italy continued their fine form and followed up their wins over Britain and Japan by inflicting a third successive loss on Germany, to end the defending B pool world champions' hopes of appearing at the Paralympics.

Once again, Planker was the man leading the Italian charge after scoring two goals in quick succession during the second period to give his side a crucial 2-0 lead.

Italy continued to dominate the ice and they wrapped up their win with strikes from captain Andrea Chiarotti and Greg Leperdi in the final period to emerge 4-0 winners.

"We can take a very deep breath now after winning three games," said Chiarotti,

Italian captain Andrea Chiarotti knows his side are on the verge of sealing another appearance at a Paralympic GamesItalian captain Andrea Chiarotti knows his side are on the verge of sealing another appearance at a Paralympic Games


























Goals from Yung-Jae Cho, Byeong-Seok Cho and Jong-Ho Jang saw South Korea come flying out of the blocks in their game with Sweden to take a 3-0 lead after the first period.

The shell-shocked Swedes, who came into the game off the back of a 7-0 win over Britain yesterday, finally began to find their rhythm in the second period, pulling a goal back through Per Kasperi before Niklas Rakos found the back of the net again in the final period.

A strike from star man Seung-Hwan Jung late in the game relieved any South Korean nerves and leaves them and hosts Italy as the only sides with 100 per cent records after three rounds of games.

Victory over Great Britian in their next game will see the South Koreans celebrating Paralympic qualification once againVictory over Great Britain in their next game will see the South Koreans celebrating Paralympic qualification once again























After shipping 15 goals in two matches so far, things did not get any better for Britain as they went down to another heavy defeat, this time to Japan.

Two goals apiece for Kazuhiro Takahashi and Wataru Horie, along with strikes for Mikio Annaka, Daisuke Uehara, Eiji Misawa and Masaharu Kumagai saw the Japanese record their first win of the tournament on a scoreline of 8-2.

Strikes from Gary Farmer and Matthew Clarkson ensured that the British side registered their first points of the tournament but that will be of little consolation to them and their teammates as they know that Sochi is already out of reach.

The action in Turin resumes on Friday (October 25) following a rest day tomorrow with Germany taking on Japan, South Korea playing Britain and Italy up against Sweden.

The top three finishers from the tournament will qualify for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, where they will join Canada, United States, Russia, the Czech Republic and Norway.

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