The teams that finish in the top three positions will keep their Paralympic hopes alive by advancing to a qualification tournament.

An Opening Ceremony is due to take place tomorrow before the first round of pool stage matches will be contested on Tuesday (November 29).

The Czech Republic enter the competition as the team to beat, while Japan will also be strong contenders on home ice.

Both squads were relegated to the B-Pool after finishing seventh and eighth at the 2015 World Championships A-Pool in Buffalo in the United States, but the Czechs' victory over Japan saw them achieve top seeding for this week's event.

Meanwhile, Slovakia and Great Britain will also be aiming to show that their fledgling programmes have been working in recent years.

The Czech Republic face Great Britain in their opening game while Japan take on Slovakia.

"The Winter Paralympic Games are the biggest tournament ever," declared Czech player Pavel Kubes.

"It is always the biggest challenge to get to the Games to me, and that is why Pyeongchang 2018 is my goal and my team’s as well."

The Czech Republic enter the tournament following an undefeated performance at last month’s Four Nations tournament on home ice in Ostrava.

They also finished fourth in the standings at April’s European Championships.

"We won the [Four Nations], therefore I feel our game level has improved positively and it should give us confidence for the World Championships," said Kubes.

"All year long our team has worked hard and we cannot wait to prove that we belong to A-Pool.

"We have been practising with more intensity and better quality training which we proved at the Four Nations tournament in Ostrava."

The competition will be played in a round robin format, concluding on December 3.