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sp/md May 5, 2009

Germany's disappointing World Ice Hockey Championship campaign ended with a 2-1 win over Hungary in Switzerland, for 15th place out of 16 teams.

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Uwe Krupp, German national ice hockey coach
Germany coach Uwe Krupp faces strong criticism for his team's disastrous performanceImage: picture-alliance/ dpa

The 2-1 victory against Hungary marked the first win for Germany in what has been a devastating World Championship under head coach Uwe Krupp. Over the course of the tournament, Germany was defeated by Russia, Switzerland, France, Denmark, and Austria.

"It's a debacle," forward Michael Hackert told German sports news agency SID after the game. "We didn't manage to get a single thing right."

Moritz Müller and Michael Bakos scored for Germany.

Despite their lackluster performance, Germany escaped relegation thanks to International Ice Hockey Federation rules that stipulate that the hosts of next year's World Championship automatically qualify for the tournament. The German cities of Cologne and Mannheim are to host the 2010 World Championship.

Germany coach Uwe Krupp, who said before the tournament that the goal was to reach the quarter finals, admitted that the team was in bad shape.

"We're now exactly back to where we usually are - fighting against relegation," Krupp,43, said.

Hungary, which have applied to host the 2014 World Championship, have already been relegated. This tournament marked Hungary's first appearance in the A Pool of the World Championship since 1939.