KUWAIT CITY - The 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia Division I will  
  start today in Kuwait City. Six national teams from the lower echelon of  
  Asian  
  hockey programs will compete in the event. Kuwait - the top-seeded host was  
  relegated to the Division I last year and aims at a quick return - will  
  welcome Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, India, Malaysia and first-time participant  
  Oman. Almost India had to cancel the event due to lack of government  
  funding.  
  But the team from India's passionate hockey hotbed of Ladakh started a  
  fundraising campaign and succeeded. They even got help from Anand Mahindra,  
  who heads a conglomerate worth billions. Not only his donation helped, on  
  Twitter he reached out to his 1.8 million followers to give the Indian ice  
  hockey enthusiasts and their crowdfunding campaign a much welcomed audience.  
  India will face Oman, which became an IIHF member in last year, in the first  
  game. Earlier that day Kyrgyzstan will play Malaysia while host Kuwait will  
  open the event against Singapore. Click here for the tournament page with  
  live  
  scores. MARTIN MERK  
    
  http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?no_cach  
  =1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=9602  
  --- SBBSecho 2.27-Win32  
   * Origin: TequilaMockingbird Online, Toms River NJ (1:266/404)