The athlete of the “Blast” team from the “Otgon-Od” club, International Master of Sports J.Bayarsaikhan, is well known for playing as a forward for the Mongolian national hockey team for many years. His achievements in domestic competitions are too numerous to mention in this space. Therefore, let’s briefly touch on his participation in continental and world competitions. 

In 2011, he and his teammates won a silver medal at the VII Asian Winter Games in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the ball hockey event, which marked the beginning of his success. From 2013 to 2016, he earned bronze medals in the Asian Challenge Cup, won a silver medal in 2017, and then claimed gold medals in 2018 and 2019, which earned him the right to compete in the World Championships. In 2017, he won a bronze medal at the Ball Hockey World Championship in Sweden, and in 2023, he earned a silver medal at the IIHF World Championship Division IV held in Mongolia, delighting his fans. He has been named “Best Forward” more than once in matches where his team fought for medals.

You are currently working as a coach at the Chingeltei District Physical Education and Sports Committee’s hockey club. How does being a coach differ from being an athlete? 

Most of the players in the Chingeltei District youth national team started playing hockey at the age of five or six. Last month, we participated in the 12-and-under category of the Eight Mongolian Children’s Winter Sports Festival hockey competition. In the past, hockey was mostly developed in areas like Orkhon and Darkhan-Uul provinces, where Russian experts worked and lived. Previously, there were no hockey teams in the eastern provinces, but recently, people from Selenge, Sukhbaatar, and Khentii provinces have been developing the sport and preparing players for competitions. 

While I work as a coach, I have not yet ended my career as an athlete. I still compete in major domestic competitions such as the National and Cup Championships and leagues. My busiest season is winter. Sometimes, I don’t even have time to rest at home. In addition to playing with my team in the league, I train the players of my club and involve them in hockey competitions at various age levels.

You are one of the few athletes who played consistently for the national team for many years. It is rare to name a competition you haven’t participated in over the years.

I started playing hockey in 1998 and played for the national team for 20 years. After winning a silver medal with my team in the IIHF World Championship Division IV held in Mongolia in 2023, I officially retired from playing. The one thing that was missing for the development of hockey in our country was an ice rink. When the “Steppe Arena,” a closed-roof rink, was opened in the fall of 2021, it fulfilled the dreams of many generations of hockey players. Before that, we had to train outdoors in the winter, which meant we were many years behind countries with well-developed hockey rinks. If an ice rink had been built earlier, we could have achieved even greater success. 

With the opening of the first rink in Mongolia that met the standards of the International Olympic Committee, athletes in hockey, figure skating, and short track could now train year-round, resulting in success in continental and world competitions. Previously, to participate in international competitions, national team players had to travel to our neighboring countries for training. But even then, it was hard to find time to practice at their ice rinks. After training their players, we would often stay up all night to train and then participate in competitions. Despite the tough conditions, I am proud that we helped move hockey forward without stopping.

Under the guidance of Coach E.Shinebayar, the Mongolian national team participated in the Asian Challenge Cup for the first time in 2013 and returned with a medal.

While he was working as the general coach for the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation, he took the national team to the Asian Challenge Cup for the first time in Bangkok, Thailand, where we won the first bronze medal for our country. I remember the spectators were amazed when we defeated the Thai team in their homeland. They were saying, “What kind of country is Mongolia? Do they have a team strong enough to defeat a team from a country with an ice rink?” That moment left a lasting impression on me. Thailand had three ice rinks, and their players trained regularly. 

Before playing against the powerful Thai team, which had bolstered its roster with Swedish legionnaires, many of us initially wondered how we would stand up to them. Is that true?

We arrived there and had been eating just rice and vegetables for a few days. Hockey is a sport that suits the physical and psychological traits of Mongolian people. Our players, who trained outdoors for three months in the harsh winter cold, had more endurance and strength than they did, as we noticed during the game. Before the match, the then-president of the Mongolian Ice Hockey Federation, S.Ganjargal, told the team, “We can’t defeat them unless we eat meat. Let’s all have a meat-based meal today,” and he personally covered the cost of the meal. After that, we were energized and went on to defeat them 6-3 in the medal match.

Since then, our team has faced teams in the UAE in 2014, Thailand in 2015, and the UAE again in 2016 during this tournament, coming back with bronze medals each time.

Yes, the Asian Challenge Cup features national teams from six countries in the region. From the first time we participated, we aimed to become champions. We won the gold medal in 2018 in Manila, Philippines, and in 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, bringing the championship trophy and gold medals home, making our supporters proud. I was awarded the Best Player prize in the last two tournaments where we became champions.

The supporters of Mongolian hockey were overjoyed when the 2023 IIHF World Championship Division IV was held in Mongolia. I imagine that memory still brings a smile to your face?

I had never played hockey in front of my family before. They followed my games and results through social media pages of the Ice Hockey Federation and close friends of the national team. That year, when we played for the championship against the Philippine national team, the match ended 6-6, and we lost in overtime with a golden goal. For a country of just three million people to compete evenly with a nation that has millions of people and a highly developed sports culture is a great achievement. They returned home realizing how much our country had developed the sport and how we now send our team to international competitions. The Philippine team had never won before 2023, but they celebrated wildly after defeating us and becoming world champions. Our team had previously lost three times in a row in the Asian Challenge Cup, and this was our chance to show ourselves. We will compete again next month in the  2025 IIHF World Championship Division III in Mexico. 

Can I ask why you didn’t participate in the World Championship held in Kuwait? People were talking about how the team’s main forward, J.Bayarsaihan, was missing at the time.

Hockey requires speed, energy, quick thinking, and courage to outplay your opponents. In any sport, the next generation of players always rises to the top. No matter how skilled and experienced you are, if you don’t have speed, you won’t achieve success. That’s why I decided to support the younger athletes and gave them the opportunity to play in foreign competitions to gain valuable experience. I believe that viewers who watched the World Championship saw that the skill and experience of Mongolian athletes are now on par with foreign players. Our team, in turn, did not disappoint our supporters and managed to play exciting matches, defeating every team they faced.

No country would send a weak team to the World Championship. The fans must have realized that only the best teams compete as the points accumulate to earn participation.

The Philippine national team, which participated in Mongolia’s first World Championship, was truly strong. They recruited professionals from Czech and Swiss leagues to strengthen their roster, making them better than other teams in terms of speed, strength, experience, skill, and the ability to read and understand opponents during games. If the government supports the development of hockey, Mongolia’s team will be able to compete closely with any foreign national team. With two ice rinks now available, we are working on preparing the next generation. 

The youth team, made up of young and fast players, won double bronze medals in Asia, and the adult team brought home gold and silver medals from the World Championship. With this, Mongolian hockey players have proven themselves to be strong competitors on the continental and world stages, drawing the attention of many countries. With the ice rink, we’ve been able to improve our skills, combining speed and strength to achieve success. This is a clear advantage for progress in a short time.

Hockey is rapidly developing in many countries, which makes it harder to qualify for World Championships and the Winter Olympics in the future.

The International Ice Hockey Federation used to include countries in the World Championship to promote the sport in Asia. Now, however, the requirements for collecting points and qualifying have become much stricter. The rules have become tougher, and if mistakes are made, there’s a high chance of being penalized. Mongolian athletes have shown impressive results in hockey, a team sport. At the 2017 World Championship in Trollhattan, Sweden, we competed against strong teams and defeated Japan 3-2 to win the bronze medal.

At the 2020 World Championship in Irkutsk, Russia, we won six matches in our group without losing a single one, but we were defeated by Ukraine 3-1 in the crossover, which allowed us to compete for the bronze medal. Then, we lost to Slovakia 3-2, finishing in fourth place. I was awarded the Best Player title at that tournament and received a pair of felt boots as a prize. I have three pairs of these felt boots, and I keep them as mementos. The first pair was from the 2006 World Championship in Sweden, and the second pair was from the 2011 World Championship in Khabarovsk, Russia.

Foreign fans still talk about the fierce match between the Mongolian team and the Ukrainian team.

At the 32nd World Championship in Ulyanovsk, Russia, in 2015, we drew 4-4 with the Ukrainian team, which had two legionnaires from Russia, and lost in overtime. While we were furious and upset, the Ukrainian team provoked us, which led to a brawl. Fighting is allowed in hockey and often excites fans, drawing attention to the sport. This is one of the characteristics of the sport’s development policy.

I heard one of your daughters is following in your footsteps and playing hockey.

I have three children, and my middle daughter plays hockey. She trains at the Chingeltei District Physical Education and Sports Department’s club and plays for the youth national team. I created the youth national team for my daughter’s benefit. Watching her makes me reminisce about the days when I was passionate about hockey as a child. 

I’ve also worked as the head coach of the Mongolian women’s national hockey team. At that time, support was limited, so the players ended up pursuing their own paths. I know how hockey has developed in our country and how we’ve reached this point because I played for the national team for many years. I’ve personally felt the challenges and limitations, so I decided to become a coach. Although I have plenty of experience, I knew that without theoretical knowledge, it would be hard to develop the sport, so I studied coaching at the Mongolian National University of Education and graduated with a degree in physical education. Some of my first students, such as Sh.Amin-Erdene, Ch.Dulguun, and G.Khuslen, now play for the national team.

By D.CHANTSALMAA