RP-Label 5 Scotch third in international ice hockey

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, playing under the colors of Label 5 Scotch Whisky, got back at the Qatar Qanucks yesterday and claimed third place in the first Philippine International Ice Hockey Championship at the SM Mall of Asia Ice Skating Rink.

Winners of the Manila Ice Hockey League over the last two seasons, Label 5 scored the first goal of the match in the first of three periods courtesy of Allison Lapiz, but tinkered with defeat when it allowed Qatar to level up soon after.

With only five minutes left in the deciding period, Pierre Navasero, a 17-year-old son of Philippine Amateur Baseball Association president Hector Navasero, delivered the marginal goal to the delight of the appreciative weekend crowd.

“There was action right in front of the goal and sticks were all over. Then we scored and I got the credit for it,” said Navasero after Label 5’s third-place finish in the three-day tournament that also featured teams from Tokyo-BFF and Shanghai.

Tokyo-BFF (Bangkok Flying Fangers) went undefeated in four matches and won the championship with a 3-0 win over Shanghai.

Label 5 won three of five matches in the tournament and could have made it to the finals if not for a painful 2-1 defeat to Qatar Friday evening. Label 5 made it to the battle for third following a 4-1 win over the Manila Predators.

“It was a little frustrating because we could have played in the finals. But it was a very good match, very challenging, very nice,” said Label 5 team captain Mike Photiou, a 26-year-old Canadian and one of a handful expats in the 15-man squad.

The other members of the team are Dave Dunkerly, Darell Ashley, Paul Medina, Rudy Molina, Mark Ramos, Val Avendano, Keith Cole, Si Woo Park, Mark Seniuk, Florian Pacquelin, Justin Paragas and Anton Unalivia.

The 2009 Philippine National Figure Skating Challenge took off yesterday. The short program among the 40 skaters in the pre-juvenile (6-8 years), juvenile (12), intermediate (-14), novice (-15), junior (-17) and senior (+18) was on as of presstime.

At stake in the senior division are two slots (one for the men and another for the ladies) to the Nebelhom Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany in November. It serves as the final qualifying for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.

In the short program, all skaters, including 10 Fil-Americans in the senior division where Anne Clarisse Roman is the only local entry, will perform the interpretive (mandatory maneuvers) leading to today’s long program (free style) finals.

All eyes seemed to be on Gracielle Tan, a California-based skater who turned 21 last Tuesday. In the ISU World Championships last March at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, she finished 29th in a star-studded field of 54 skaters.

But only the top 24 made it to the next Winter Olympics in February and Tan, who combines beauty and grace like the rest of the participants, just fell short of being the first Filipina skater ever to advance in the Olympics.

“I soaked in that experience and I will do my best to become the first Filipina ever in the Winter Olympics,” said Tan, who skates at 10:30 a.m. today, hopefully leading her to the finals proper that begins at 1:30 p.m.