PH hockey team finishes 4th in Worlds
THE Philippine national men’s ice hockey team “did well” despite not medaling in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Division 3B World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On Saturday, Filipino Swiss forward Steven Fuglister said in a Messenger chat to The Manila Times that they had a shot at the podium in games against hosts Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hong Kong.
“Team did well, of course, it would have been nice to win a medal and I think we really had a shot at it to win the games versus Bosnia and Hong Kong,” he said. “But it’s also our first time playing these nations and the experience factor played a big role.”
“The margins for error become smaller every division up and they capitalized on them,” Fuglister added. “All in all now we had our first experience in Division 3 and I’m confident we’ll come back stronger next year.”
He also admitted that players were “banged up” almost every day in the tournament, which he described as “hard on the body.”
“These tournaments are hard on the body with games almost every day, players are banged up and recovery plays a big part in these tournaments,” Fuglister said.
The veteran forward said there was also a medical team from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to keep them in good shape.
Despite winning its first two games in Sarajevo against Singapore and Iran, the Philippine team dropped its next three games to Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Korea, and Hong Kong, who eventually were the top three teams of the tournament.
With 15 points (3 goals, 12 assists), Fuglister was the country’s top point scorer, while Kenwrick Sze and his eight goals was the top goal scorer for the Filipinos.
Following its 4th place finish in Sarajevo, the Philippines will remain in the IIHF Division 3B in 2025, along with Singapore, North Korea, and Hong Kong.
New opponents will also be facing the Philippines in 2025. Tournament champions Bosnia and Herzegovina will be promoted to division 3A for next year, while Iran will be demoted to division 4. Replacing these countries will be the winner of this year’s division 4 tournament in Kuwait and the last placed country from the division 3A tournament in Kyrgyzstan.
Fuglister later said next year would be a big year for the Philippine team, as apart from staying in Division 3B of the IIHF, they are anticipating two major sporting events.
“2025 will be a big year with the Asian Winter Games, IIHF Worlds, and the SEA Games,” he said. “Think now we need to analyze the tournament after a couple days of rest on how to tackle these big coming challenges.”