Wearing full scuba gear and playing upside-down below the frozen surface, the men took part in a unique competition. Picture: Diving club Nayada

Members of a diving club have held Siberia's first-ever underwater ice hockey matches. Wearing full scuba gear and playing upside-down below the frozen surface, the men took part in a unique competition spanning three days.

Instead of goals, two triangular holes were carved on the top of the ice and set 15 metres apart, with the teams trying to score using a floating wooden puck.

Played out by teams of two or three people, matches continued simply until the first goal.

Underwater ice hockey is a recognised sport, although perhaps not in this manner with the participants wearing full dive suits. In the classic version of the extreme game competitors do not use any breathing apparatus, but instead go to the surface for air every 30 seconds or so.

'We really liked this game and we plan to gather teams from different regions of Siberia and host a full tournament next year.' Picture: Diving club Nayada

Roman Vytovtov, head of the Nayada diving club, said: 'Initially, there is a slight disorientation, but we get used to very quickly. We really liked this game and we plan to gather teams from different regions of Siberia and host a full tournament next year.'

This week's competition took place in the village of Temirtau, in Tashtagolsky district, with 15 men taking part from Barnaul, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk and Yurga.

The next competition will be held between March 20 and 22.