Last updated on .From the section Ice hockey

Great Britain celebrate their survival in the top flight

Great Britain secured their place in the top tier of the Ice Hockey World Championship with a 4-3 overtime win against France in Kosice, Slovakia.

GB and France finished level on two points in Group A, with the British side avoiding relegation courtesy of their better head-to-head record.

Their dramatic victory, after coming back from 3-0 down to force overtime, means Great Britain will participate at the highest level in successive years for the first time since 1951.

They were promoted to the top-flight after winning their group in Hungary at last year's Division One World Championship.

The top four teams in Groups A and B will go through to the knockout phase, with the final taking place in Bratislava on Sunday.

World Championship Group A (Kosice)

Final standings Team P W OTW OTL L F A Pts Canada 7 6 0 0 1 36 11 17 Finland 7 5 0 1 1 22 11 16 Germany 7 5 0 0 2 18 18 15 United States 7 4 1 0 2 27 15 14 Slovakia 7 3 1 0 3 28 19 11 Denmark 7 1 1 1 4 18 23 6 Great Britain 7 0 1 0 6 9 41 2 France 7 0 0 2 5 14 34 2

Results

Sunday, 26 May

Final

Finland 3-1 Canada

Third-place play-off

Russia 3-2 Czech Republic (OT)

Saturday, 25 May

Semi-finals

Russia 0-1 Finland

Canada 5-1 Czech Republic

Quarter-finals

Canada 3-2 Switzerland (OT)

Russia 4-3 United States

Finland 5-4 Sweden (OT)

Czech Republic 5-1 Germany

Group A preliminary stages

Tuesday, 21 May

Finland 2-4 Germany

Slovakia 2-1 Denmark

Canada 3-0 United States

Monday, 20 May

Great Britain 4-3 France (OT)

Canada 5-0 Denmark

Sunday, 19 May

Germany 1-3 United States

France 0-3 Finland

Saturday, 18 May

Denmark 1-7 United States

Canada 8-1 Germany

Great Britain 1-7 Slovakia

Friday, 17 May

France 3-6 Slovakia

Great Britain 0-5 Finland

Thursday, 16 May

Canada 5-2 France

Finland 3-1 Denmark

Wednesday, 15 May

Great Britain 3-6 United States

Germany 3-2 Slovakia

Tuesday, 14 May

Great Britain 0-9 Denmark

Germany 4-1 France

Monday, 13 May

United States 3-2 Finland (OT)

Slovakia 5-6 Canada

Sunday, 12 May

United States 7-1 France

Denmark 1-2 Germany

Great Britain 0-8 Canada

Saturday, 11 May

Denmark 5-4 France (OT)

Great Britain 1-3 Germany

Slovakia 2-4 Finland

Friday, 10 May

Finland 3-1 Canada

United States 1-4 Slovakia

Great Britain squad

Netminders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff), Thomas Murdy (Cardiff), Jackson Whistle (Sheffield).

Defencemen: Tim Billingsley (Nottingham), Dallas Ehrhardt (Manchester), Steve Lee (Nottingham), Evan Mosey (Cardiff), Ben O'Connor (Sheffield), David Phillips (Sheffield), Mark Richardson (Cardiff), Paul Swindlehurst (Belfast).

Forwards: Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham), Ben Davies (Guildford), Robert Dowd (Sheffield), Robert Farmer (Nottingham), Luke Ferrara (Coventry), Mike Hammond (Manchester), Liam Kirk (Peterborough), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham), Ben Lake (Coventry), Joey Lewis (Kaufbeuren, Ger), Matthew Myers (Cardiff), Brett Perlini (Nottingham), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield), Colin Shields (Belfast).