Woman's Hockey Championship Called Off
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Associated Press
MARBELLA, Spain -- The women's hockey championships for 2003 were canceled Monday after the tournament in China was first postponed in April because of the SARS virus.
The International Ice Hockey Federation announced the move on the first day of its meetings in Spain.
The tournament was postponed in Beijing because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has killed more than 700 people.
Canada has won all seven world women's hockey championships, never losing a game.
The 2005 world championships were awarded to Linkoping and Norrkoping in Sweden. The 2005 under-20 championships were given to Grand Forks, N.D., and Thief River Falls, Minn., the federation said.
The IIHF said next year's championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will be run with nine teams instead of eight because no team was relegated to the B pool this year and Japan won promotion.