Day: April 20, 2019

Thailand improved on last year’s third-place finish at the IIHF Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia

By Nancy Gillen – Inside the Games

Nuchanat Ponglerkdee scored three goals in the emphatic win at Zayed Sports City Ice Rink in the United Arab Emirates venue.

Also on the score sheet were Minsasha Teekhathanasaku, Pijittra Saejear, Varachanant Boonyubol, Panvipa Suksirivecharuk, Wirasinee Rattananai and Kwanchanok Chueyklang. 

Adilah Junid and Aisha Nuval Othman grabbed consolation goals for Malaysia. 

Victory saw Thailand take the overall title with 10 points in the round-robin table, an upgrade from their bronze medal at the 2018 edition.

Chinese Taipei confirmed their second-place finish following a 3-0 victory against New Zealand’s under-18s.

They finished on nine points, ahead of Singapore on six.

New Zealand were fourth on five points, while Malaysia ended fifth having lost every match.

The Philippine women’s ice hockey team concedes only one goal during its title run

By Beatrice Go – Rappler

The Philippine women’s ice hockey team sweeps the tournament’s Division 1 to gain promotion to the 2020 Challenge Cup of Asia

The Philippine women’s ice hockey team bagged a gold medal in the 2019 IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia division 1 on Friday, April 19 (Saturday, April 20, Manila time) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Nationals, which won a bronze in the previous edition, capped their campaign with a narrow 2-1 win over host country UAE to sweep the tournament and gain promotion to the Challenge Cup of Asia tournament in 2020.

Bianca Cuevas, the tournament’s top scorer, scored the opening goal for the Philippines 57 seconds into the match thanks to a two-minute penalty on UAE’s Fatima Al Ali for tripping.

Even as the Philippines struggled during a penalty-laden 2nd period, Danielle Imperial managed to slot in the country’s second goal for a 2-0 cushion at the 39:53 mark of the game.

UAE attempted to rally back, but Dana Alhosani wound up scoring the team’s lone goal at 56:53.

The Philippines’ goaltender Rosalyn Lim only conceded one goal in the tournament as the Nationals trounced Kuwait, 10-0, and blanked India, 5-0.