BUDAPEST, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Italy, Kazakhstan and South Korea beat their respective opponents at the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A in Budapest on Monday.

South Korea won its first ever game against host Hungary 5-4 (0-3, 1-1, 3-0, 0-0, 1-0) in a shootout. Italy defeated Japan 4-1 (1-0, 2-1, 1-1) while Kazakhstan beat Britain 5-0 (2-0, 1-0, 2-0).

Italy and Kazakhstan remained undefeated and have good chances to be promoted to the top division.

The competition kicked off on Sunday and will conclude on Saturday.