BRATISLAVA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Host Slovakia defeated Britain 6-1 in an ice hockey friendly in Poprad on Saturday, six days before the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship open in the Slovakia's Kosice and Bratislava.

Both teams will be playing in Group A of the much-anticipated tournament.

Team Slovakia, led by the Canadian-born coach Craig Ramsay, put a tight grip on the development of the match from early on with Tomas Zigo scoring in the first period.

Tomas Tatar, the star player of the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL, added another goal for Slovakia in the second period, but Britain managed to cut the deficit into one after Robert Farmer capitalized on a rebound.

However, for the rest of the game, it was only the home team that put new names on the scoring board.

In the last week before the opening game of the world championship, Slovakia will play their final warmup against Norway on Tuesday.