Two big events on ice will keep Filipino figure skaters and ice hockey players busy in the weeks ahead at the Mall of Asia rink.
 
CJ Suarez, head ofthe SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. (SMLEI) sports development, announced in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate the staging of the International Ice Hockey Tournament from November 25 to 28 at the brand-new rink between the MOA Arena and SMX Convention Center.
 
The ice hockey event will be followed by the Philippine National Figure Skating Championships, featuring more than 40 of the country’s finest figure skaters, on December 1 and 2. 
 
“These are two major skating events that will coincide with the opening of the new skating rink,” said Suarez, winner of the 2003 bowling World Cup.
 
Also gracing the forum, presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., are flqure skaters Sofia Isabel Victoria Guidote and Jules Alpe, Federation of Ice Hockey Leagues Secretary-General Peter Tigaronita, Team Manager Francois Gautier and SMLEI Public Relations and Advertising Manager Stephanie Henares.
 
Guidote, a 13-year-old figure skater, wants people to watch the event so they can see “how good the locals are,”  Gautier said the ice hockey event will be divided into four categories-lO-under (squirt), 12-under (peewee), 16-under (bantam) and under-25 (men’s).
 
Teams from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia will challenge the Filipinos, who are slowly making a name in ice hockey in the Asian region. It marks the first time that an international ice hockey event will be held in the country.
 
In September a 13-under team from the Philippines won gold in Malaysia, and, according to Tigaronita, “hockey teams all around Asia are now looking at the Philipines.”
 
There are no cash prizes at stake in the ice hockey event but pure “bragging rights” according to the ice hockey official.