Mamed Seifulov (R) of Kyrgyzstan competes during the Men's Ice Hockey group B match between Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan at Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Feb. 3, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

HARBIN, Feb. 3 (Xinhua)—Kyrgyzstan edged Kuwait 9-8 in overtime to claim victory in the Men's Ice Hockey opening match of the Harbin Asian Winter Games on Monday, with four days to go before the Opening Ceremony of the Games.

Anton Tcibin and Ilia Drozdetskikh scored two goals, respectively, to help Kuwait take a 5-3 lead in the first period. Kuwait once extended the advantage to 7-3, but Kyrgyzstan tied the game 8-8 in the last minute of the match.

In overtime, Mamed Seifulov of Kyrgyzstan scored in just 19 seconds to secure the comeback victory.

"It was a hard win for us. We arrived here two days ago and still need adaptation. I am sure we will be better in the next game," said Sultan Ismanov of Kyrgyzstan. " The atmosphere for us was good. I want to say thanks to our fans and the Chinese people."

In other Men's games, Singapore dominated Bahrain 20-1, and Hong Kong, China, won over Macao, China, 26-1. On the women's side, Chinese Taipei defeated Thailand 4-1, while Kazakhstan eased past Hong Kong, China, 12-0.

"It is a very beautiful place to compete here. We tried our best, and we can train more and play much better. There are not many ice rinks in Hong Kong, but we always try to have more training time," said Mok Hei Lam of Hong Kong, China.

Five Ice Hockey matches will take place on Tuesday, with China facing up with Republic of Korea in the Men's event.