MetroVan Independent News September 2015 | Page 24
24
MetroVanIndependent.com
September 2015
Sports
Team Philippines reached semis in HK Hockey 5’S tournament
By Alex Mino
Team Philippines earned a respectable
3rd place finish after bowing to the Tokyo
Mavericks, 3-1 in the semifinals of the
2015 Hong Kong Hockey 5’S international
tournament held at Mega Ice Rink in Hong
Kong.
The RP squad showed cohesiveness
at the start of the first period and battled
Tokyo tooth and nail in the second period.
The Mavericks drew first blood in the
third period and after a few minutes of
slam bang action, the Pinoy skaters evened
things up at 1-1.
The Philippines had some Grade A
chances to pull through but couldn’t beat
the Tokyo goalie, who was solid in net.
In the ensuing play, the Mavericks
peppered the Philippines several point
blank shots that forced the latter to commit
a penalty.
Tokyo cashed in on their power play
to pull ahead at 2-1 with seven minutes
remaining in the last period, when RP
goalie Paolo Spafford didn’t see the shot
from the point.
A costly error on the blue line dashed
some hopes for the Philippines that led to
a two-on-one breakaway for the Mavericks
skaters and iced the game with a minute
Members of Team Philippines pose for a souvenir photo before their semis match against the Tokyo Mavericks.
left.
The RP team is composed of Spafford,
Miguel Ralampagos, Jorell Crisostomo,
David Samson, Julian Santiago, Julius
Santiago, Pierre Navasero, Daniel Mendoza
Pastrana, Danilo Mendoza Pastrana, Jeff
Hancock, Georgino Orda, Brian Wong,
Francois Gauthier, Roach Garrucho, Carl
Montano, Steven Fuglister, and BJ Imperial.
The Philippine team started their
campaign in this annual tourney on a bright
note after drubbing Sammi’s Superstar,
4-2.
They immediately followed it up with a
convincing shutout win over the Hockey
Panda, 15-0 and finished their round
robin outings with a 4-1 victory over the
Ice Wolves.
In the quarterfinals, the Pinoy skaters
needed a 5-4 shootout win over Sammi’s
Superstar to earn the right to face Tokyo
in the semifinals.
On the other hand, the Mavericks had
two impressive shut out wins over the
Bravo, 10-0 and the Qatar ORYX, 3-0.
Unfortunately for the Tokyo squad,
they didn’t have the firepower in the finals
after surrendering a 1-0 shutout loss to the
Golden Club.
Lee captures karate bronze medal
By Alex Mino
The Filipino Canadian bronze medalist, Shalene
Lee, shows off her medal beside the Pan Am
Games poster.
Filipino Canadian Shale ne Le e
managed to salvage a bronze medal in a
tough competition of the 2015 Cadet and
Junior Pan Am Games held August 27-29
in Sta. Cruz, Bolivia.
Lee’s perseverance against top caliber
competitors rewarded her a tie in the 3rd
spot with Peru’s Heydi Ortiz in the Karate
female event.
The 17-year-old product of Winston
Churchill Secondar y in Vancouver
displayed dedication and heart in this
tournament, but fell short at the hands
of eventual champion and silver medalist
Valerya Hernandez of Venezuela and Mares
Leslieth Ayzadeth Hernandez of Mexico,
respectively.
“It was really tough facing them. I
just did all I can to be at par but it’s not
enough,” she said.
The bubbly teen was somewhat still
satisfied with her performance despite the
results she got.
Bronze medalist, Shalene Lee, (first from right) poses with other winners during the awarding ceremonies.
“I’m happy with the way it turned out, I
didn’t expect I would land in the top three
spot considering all the best athletes you
have to face,” Lee added.
Lee noted that she had an exciting
experience meeting all those competitors
from among the 22 countries that
participated in this tournament.
“To have an opportunity to be with the
best in this competition is truly an honor for
me,” Lee reiterates.
She vowed to perform better in her next
international tournament.