Fleming Nitro wins ice hockey tournament

JAKARTA (JP): Fleming Nitro won the Sky Rink Jakarta Ice Hockey Tournament on Sunday with an emphatic 10-2 victory over another Jakarta team, Good Fellas, at Taman Anggrek Mall Ice Rink in West Jakarta.

Robin scored five goals as the Nitros dominated the match from the beginning, preventing the frustrated Fellas from getting into the flow of the game.

Nitro players said they did very little in the way of preparing for the six-team tournament

"We never thought about winning. The organizers told us that it was just for fun, so we made no special preparations," captain Jerry said. "We relied solely on teamwork since we've been playing together as team for quite a while."

Felix, named the tournament MVP by organizers, said that prior to the game the Nitros were a little wary of the Fellas, who have two expatriates on their team.

"The two expat players posed a real threat to us. But we played with good teamwork. I believe that good teamwork was the key to our victory," he said.

One of the referees, Canadian Arnold Ames, also vouched that teamwork carried the day for the Nitros.

"Both teams had similar skills, but the Nitros played as a team. Not to say anything about their good passing skills," he said.

"Each team member knew where his position was," he added.

Ames noted the 1,248-square-meter rink was only three-fourths the size of rinks used to stage professional ice hockey games.

"There's no problem at all with the size. It allows players to easily take control and handle the rink. Playing in the standard rink requires more speed and power," he said.

Another referee, Robert Esguerra, who is the head instructor at the Sky Rink, said the organizers planned to invite more teams to next year's tournament.

"We may also send a team to other tournaments. Surabaya, for example, holds a tournament every July, while Hong Kong holds one in October," he said.

Pandawa secured third place on Saturday night with a 3-2 defeat of Jakarta's Ice Slap. Also on Saturday, Franky, Andy and Airel of the Good Fellas won the relay race event.

Surabaya's Sixel grabbed two titles. Samuel Lewi won the goalie event, and Iwan Lembono, Sammy and Bobby Gunars grabbed the puck handling and shooting event.

The tournament's top scorer was Pandawa's Toni, who netted eight goals. (nvn)