In the last game of the four-team tournament, Kazakhstan defeated Japan 5-1 on home ice in Almaty to win the 2025 IIHF Asia Championship. Captain Yevgeni Rymarev led the offense with a two-goal performance.

Kazakhstan and Japan finished tied in points with six after each team won twice and lost once. Kazakhstan gets first place based on winning the head-to-head record.

In Saturday’s earlier game, China defeated South Korea 2-1 in overtime, with Zesen Zang scoring the winning goal 1:45 into the extra frame. That accounted for China’s only points of the tournament.

Wednesday, Nov. 6:
Japan 4 - China 1
South Korea 4 - Kazakhstan 1

Friday, Nov. 8:
Japan 5 - South Korea 2
Kazakhstan 6 - China 1

Saturday, Nov. 9:
China 2 - South Korea 1 (OT)
Kazakhstan 5 - Japan 1

The Kazakhs’ only loss came in their opening game on Wednesday, 4-1 at the hands of the Koreans. They rebounded with a 6-1 win over China on Friday, led by three goals and an assist by Dmitri Breus.

Also on Friday, the Japanese won their second straight, 5-2 over Korea, proving their 4-3 win at the World Championship Division I Group A six months earlier was no fluke. Taiga Irikura had three goals and one assist.

Irikura, Rymarev, Kazakshtan’s Yevgeni Korolinskiy and Japan’s Chikara Hanzawa all had five points in the tournament, to share the scoring lead. Breus led all defensemen with four points.

All four teams iced rosters roughly similar to those that represent the countries at IIHF World Championships or Olympic qualifying tournaments.