From January 7th to 13th, the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women's World Championship took place in Radenthein (Austria). Alongside host Austria, the German U18 women's national team competed in Division I against Hungary, Italy, Denmark and Slovakia in the fight for promotion to the top division.
After a dream start with a 5-1 win against Denmark followed by a 5-0 win against Austria, national coach Franziska Busch's selection established itself as a serious candidate for the top places. This also showed in the following games DEB-Selection of outstanding performances against co-favorites Hungary (3:2 in overtime) and Italy (7:0).
Germany and Slovakia faced each other in the final in the fight for promotion. Unfortunately, the German team's efforts were not rewarded with direct promotion. Slovakia celebrated a 5:1 victory and, accordingly, direct promotion to the top division after five wins from five games. "Unfortunately, we were not able to win today against a physically strong Slovakian team," said national coach Franziska Busch after the final game. "After a nervous start, we found our way into the game better and were able to create opportunities, but were unable to capitalize on them. The team never gave up and gave it our all until the end. So, with four wins from five games, we unfortunately only end up in the disappointing second place. I would like to thank the entire staff for their good cooperation."
In the end, the German selection concluded the tournament with a hard-earned second place and an overall outstanding performance that shows the great potential for the future of German women's ice hockey. In the overall ranking, there are three German players in the top five of the women with the highest points in the tournament (Sarah Kubiczek: 5 goals/2 assists, Lilli Welcke: 4 goals/2 assists, Luisa Welcke: 3 goals/3 assists). Hungary came third ahead of Italy. Denmark finished the tournament in fifth place ahead of the hosts from Austria, who finished in sixth place.