Philippine men’s ice hockey team eyes home celebration at 30th SEA Games
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE Philippine men’s ice hockey team, defending Southeast Asian Games gold medallist, seeks to make a successful title defense in this year’s edition of the sporting meet which the country’s is hosting beginning this weekend.
The Philippine Eagles, as the team is known, will try to make it back-to-back SEA Games titles and at home soil at that in ice action happening from Dec. 1 to 8 at the SM Mall of Asia Skating Rink in Pasay.
“Our immediate goal in the SEA Games is to defend our gold, especially now that we’re in our home soil. We have the home court advantage this time but this doesn’t mean we can be complacent. We have to bring pride to the Philippines,” said team captain Steven Fuglister.
In the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia, the Philippine ice hockey team surprised many with its performance, which has since been fondly referred to as “Miracle on Ice.”
The Philippines completed a sweep of its four-game assignment, beating Indonesia, 12-0, in the opener before following it up with 7-2 and 8-7 victories over Singapore and host Malaysia, respectively, in the round-robin phase.
It capped its performance by edging Thailand, 5-4, in a thrilling final match that earned it the gold medal.
As the defending champions, the Eagles know they have a target on their back but expressed readiness to take on the challenge.
“We have a target behind our back. We’re expecting the other four teams to be stronger, faster and we’re preparing for that,” said Francois Gautier executive vice-president of Hockey Philippines and senior member of the Eagles.
“Of course the goal is to get the gold but we know it’s going to be tougher than before. Thailand and Malaysia will be tougher, Singapore and Indonesia are making improvements. We are confident of our chances but we still need to put in the work,” he added.
The Philippines will begin its ice hockey campaign on Dec. 1 against Malaysia, followed by Singapore on Dec. 3, Indonesia on Dec. 4 and Thailand on Dec. 6. All games will be played at 7 p.m.
Tournament format will be a single round-robin with the top four teams advancing to the next round. The winning teams in the semifinals battle in the finals with the losers disputing the bronze medal.
“We want to bring pride to the country and show the world that hockey can thrive here in a hot, tropical country and that we have the talent to be a hockey-playing country,” said Mr. Gautier.
