Gold Rush! Team Philippines Dominates The 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championships!

Now it can be told.. in the eyes of the Gentledog.

After all the calories gained strategizing at Mcdo..

After the countless hours deliberating the line-ups and yes.. even the design of the men’s team swimming trunks..

After all the e-groups drama and blunders..

When it comes to Underwater Hockey..

The Philippines is THE BEST in Asia.

We're the CHAMPS!

Except for a draw in the mixed division, Team Philippines from the Philippine Underwater Hockey Confederation (PUHC) dominated almost every game of the 1st Asian Underwater Hockey Championship (AUHC) held in Singapore.

The games were held at The Queenstown Swimming Complex. Located along stirling road, the complex was perfect for the 1st ever AUHC. Although the tile grouts takes a little getting used to, the pool was big and deep enough for underwater hockey. Stirling Underwater Hockey Club (SUHC) did a fantastic job organizing this event. Except for a couple of kinks here and there, which can be considered as growing pains, everything went smoothly and as planned. Next year, I hope PUHC will be able to top what SUHC did.

The games were on-time 99% of the time, the barriers did a fantastic job containing the wild underwater hockey players, there was LIVE COVERAGE of the games being shown on deck on 2 huge 50(?) inch TV’s, not to mention still having enough space for all the other players to loiter and hang around. The washrooms were big and water was never a problem also.

Going inside the venue, you'll immediately feel the competitive yet festive nature of the event. Everyone was in high spirits! It was great to mingle around and talk to other underwater hockey players from Asia. Despite the obvious language barrier, it was good that everyone knows how to speak English. In 3 days time, I think I saturated all the English in my vocabulary. Including the ones in my reserves. I was reduced to "Yup", "Uh-huh", and "Yeah" on the last day. Hehe..


Day 0 (Thursday) - Coup-de-etat!

History was made on the day we left for Singapore, not because of us but because of the coup-de-etat staged by the rebel military soldiers. While everyone was busy burying their attention at the Manila Peninsula Hotel where the rebels held their fort, most of us were busy haggling the traffic going to the airport. When I got to the airport, I can't help but feel patriotic seeing the other members of our team clad in matching Speedo sponsored, Philippine Team t-shirts.

We made quite an impression at the airport, with a number of people asking if we're part of the Philippine Team contingent that’s going to slug it out at the SEA Games. Only to see their faces turn into blank "huh?" faces when we mention that we're going instead to Singapore to play Underwater Hockey. Underwater What?!? Hehehe..

The flight took around 3½-4 hours which was honestly the longest 4 hours of my life. Not because I was afraid of airplanes but because I was butt-hungry. When I saw the flight attendants pulling the food carts I thought they we're going to serve us snacks only to find out that those damn junk foods aren’t free! 100 bucks for a freaking cup noodle?!? When I asked the pretty flight attendant why they don’t serve free snacks she just told me, "Budget flight lang po kasi Sir.. mura lang kasi yung ticket". What the hell? Good thing the flight attendant was pretty. Then as I lowered my head in frustration I saw this flag on my t-shirt and that told me everything I needed to know. Hehehe.. Say hello to our third world country :) Hehehe..

When we arrived at Singapore we just got our luggage’s and went on our separate ways. The SUHC people were gracious enough to host most of us in their houses. Some people were picked up by their kind hosts, and some like my group took a maxicab. My group decided to make a quick detour at Mustafa to have our $US converted to Singapore’s currency. We also had a quickie midnight snack at one of Mustafa’s infamous eateries. Wherein the use of serving spoons and utensils is practically unheard of. Hehe..

We got to Sam’s (our host) place around 5am already, which was really embarrassing to our kind host since he's been waiting for us since 1am. Not to mention that he's been stuck with Chock for the entire time. Hehehe.


DAY 1 (Friday) - And so it begins.. Team Philippines sets the benchmark.

For Jay, Chock, and the Gentledog (GD), the day started pretty early. Armed with just an hour of sleep, we were tasked to help our host setup the barriers. We slept at 6am and woke up around 7am and immediately went to the pool. To those who thinks setting up the barriers on our PUHC tourneys is hard enough, the barriers made by SUHC was even harder to setup. It was harder yeah but it was all worth the effort. Considering that it did its job really well. Along with some other SUHCers, we were tasked to carry the barriers, chains, and other stuff from the storage to the pool area. Which we happily agreed to do. Those barrier walls were heavy. It took two persons to carry 5 of those. Y'all saw how many barriers were used. Feel free to do the math :). The chains were also heavy as hell. Those chains weren’t the thin ones. They were HUGE. After bringing them to the pool area, we helped Sam and the rest of his Equipment & Set-Up crew put the stickers on the barriers. Then also helped them put the gazillion # of nuts and bolts together. We finished and got back to Sam’s place around 11am. By then we were talking about going to the various shopping places in Singapore. Which was put on hold because all 3 of us felt sleepy as soon as I turned the aircon on. Hehehe..

After a couple of hours recharging, the 3 of us were hungry. We went to this sorta-like hidden chicken rice place in Singapore which was recommended by our SUHCer friend Twang, which to our surprise, serves one of the best chicken rice in the whole country. We ordered a half-chicken which we finished in a record 5 mins time. We came back to this place the following day along with our fellow housemates and this time ordered the whole chicken! That didn’t last long either. Hehe.. The Chicken was that good. No wonder this restaurant got an award for having the best Chicken Rice Singapore has to offer. Sin Kee is the best!

The PUHC women’s team were barely challenged on their way to clinch the women’s championship on the very 1st day. Since Japan didn’t field their own women’s team, Team Philippines and Singapore went at it on a best of 3 format. Team Philippines won each game convincingly. Outscoring Singapore on their 1st game 14-0 and then upping the ante on the 2nd game. Finishing the game with a 15-nil win over the Singapore Women’s team. Those lucky ladies! They can now relax because they're already assured of a medal. Something which The Gentledog really wants. Selfish as this may sound but, I want the medal more than the mixed games winners certificate. Hehehe..

The PUHC men’s team also showed its strength against Team Singapore and Japan. On their 1st match against Singapore, the PUHC men’s team dominated the game with an 8-3 win over Singapore. Singapore on their 2nd game versus Japan won the game 6-4. On the last match of the day, Team Philippines overwhelmed Japan for a 14-1 victory. Though the game against Japan was a blowout, the game got really rough. Trust me, it wasn’t an easy victory. Every goal was a product of hardwork, teamwork, and determination. Everybody contributed to every goal.

It wasn’t the same for Team Philippines' X-Games division though, armed with mixed men and women players from PUHC, and playing against an all-men’s Singapore roster, the PUHC X-Games division teams lost on both occasions. Losing the 1st game 8-3 and succumbing once again to the all men’s Singapore X-games team on the 2nd game 4-3. Everything was still going as planned though because even with those 2 losses, those x-games are non-bearing matches. So technically, Team Philippines still has a perfect all win-zero loss record. GD though may have caused a commotion among the x-team players because of his suggestion that his fellow Mighty PUHCer shouldn’t play with the x-team on their 2nd game. The x-team was asking for reinforcements and Jay was telling GD that he's thinking of playing with our x-team. Given that we were going to play against Japan in a couple of minutes I told him GD’s side that he shouldn’t play there anymore but instead save himself for our final game against Team Japan. Because based on what I saw during their last match against Singapore, those Japanese players are no push-overs. Besides, why risk getting injured and wasted on a non-bearing game? Also, with your match against the very strong Japanese contingent only a few minutes away. Not to demean any of the x-game players but at the end of the day, our game is what will really count on the score sheets. What happens if someone from the men’s team got injured? What if someone from the men’s team plays all out at the x-games division and loses gas at the all men’s game? Who are you going to blame this time? Yes the term non-bearing hurts but quite frankly, it is what it is. A non-bearing game. Besides, why blame GD? He's not the team captain. If a players wants to jump in for the x-games then he/she can do so. He's just saying what he thinks is right. Also, can teams put in players from the men’s and women’s team to their x-game counterparts that easily? I dunno what the rules are about that but I still stand by my opinion. No one should underestimate any opponent. Not even Team Japan. Not even if they just have 7 players. After our game against Japan, despite the blowout victory, I think my opinion regarding that one was justified.

We all went to Kopitiam after the game for dinner. Where GD sampled their infamous cereal prawns which was costly but very delicious. After a few rounds of ice ka chang(?) for dessert, some of us headed to clark quey for a couple rounds of beer. Some of the went home already. We went to Hooters where we got our first taste of Ambassador Glenn’s generosity. This dude is one of a kind. Credit card limit size that is. Hehe.. Most of us got surprised (pleasantly of course.. hehe) that he took care of the bill that night. So in return, we made him pose between our 2 lovely girls for the evening.. Achi Michelle and Ditse (tama ba? hehe) Jowi and promised him that he will score a goal (take note) tomorrow at the mixed division.


DAY 2 (Saturday) - Domination, Determination, Perseverance, and the 1 hour dance routine.

This is the day The Gentledog dreaded the most. Because if you'll look at the rosters of the 3 Philippine Teams, our team (Phi2) had the most number of women. Phi1 had the strongest first 6 and subs (except for a few) of all 3 teams. While Phi3 had the most balanced team in terms of regular players and new player firepower. Phi2 only had The Gentledog as its male forward. The CF position was handled by Nix while the other wing position, by Nikki and Nadj. The Gentledog was sharing his with Margie. Our backs were anchored by Ferdie at the CB position along with Boy Toy Roy (more on than later.. hehe) taking care of the right back. Chari and Ines were subbing at the left back position. Backing up The Gentledog whenever he fumbles the puck. Hehehe..

Before the actual game itself, The Gentledog knew he's gonna pushed to his limits. Being the only male forward, he will be tasked to penetrate, gain ground, attack, and occasionally defend as well. Though its a task The Gentledog has no problems with, playing with a sprained ankle on day 2 is not how you wanna start facing your opponents. The Gentledog has been having problems with his 2 bum ankles for the longest time. Unfortunately for him, during one of the tune-up games with PUHC before the 1st AUHC, he sprained his right ankle pretty bad (again!). 1 week before the freaking 1st AUHC! When he woke up the morning of Day 2. His right ankle was swollen. But as always, and because of the expected earful that he will get from Nix, Chari, and the rest of Phi2 team if he decides not to play, (hehehe..) the Gentledog played. Thanks to chocks painkillers, my 6 months old ankle support, my quack quack self-medication, and a lil bit of luck, The Gentledog made it through.

Phi1 as expected blew all their opponents out. Scoring 8-1, 7-0, and 10-1 against Singapore(Sng)3, The Joey Carpio powered Sng2, and the Aussie Superstar Greg Bush powered Sng1 respectively. Against Japan though, the game wasn’t much of a blowout as we expected. Getting 7 points while letting Japan score 2 goals against them. The thrilling part here is that, In Phi1's 4 games, Ambassador Glenn was able to score a total of 4 GOALS! Yup! Count em.. 1,2,3 and 4!

Phi2 was able to get by Sng3 and the Greg Bush powered Sng 1 pretty easily. Beating them 8-0 and 8-3 respectively. Then the Phi2 girls Nix, Chari, Nikki, Nadj and Marge took the challenge of going against the stronger, faster, and rougher players from Japan to heart and helped Phi2 beat them 6-1. Joey Carpio's Sng2 squad though was another story. Even if Phi2 won 5-2, this was undoubtedly the toughest game Phi2 has ever played. Being their last game for the night, fatigue is slowly creeping up. Especially with the Gentledog.

The game was deadlocked 2-2 after the first half. The pressure was on. It was our closest game yet. They were pounding The Gentledog and the rest of my co-forwards everytime we try to attack. The game was getting rougher and more physical by the minute. Add the fact that the refs didn’t count one of Gentledogs goal attempt. Which could’ve made the score 3-2 in favor of Phi2. I swear it was a goal. I was scot-free on my breakaway and I flicked it high. Yes it was high but I was pretty sure that it hit the part BELOW the tape mark. I'm sure the other Sng 2 players saw that too because they went up as well as if I actually made the goal. I was in fact already on my way back to our goal area to prepare for the next strike. Only to find out that my goal wasn’t counted. Oh well, lesson learned.

Counted or not, its was all water under the bridge for the G.D after that. Nothing you can do about it anymore. Maybe the refs were right, maybe it wasn’t really a goal. But who cares right? It happened already. Move on. Yes, that pissed The Gentledog a hell lot, but I have to put all that behind me and just focus on our remaining task ahead. On deck, I can hear the cheers from my fellow Team Philippines encouraging us and boosting our morale. My ankle was hurting really bad already. The painkillers aren’t working anymore. Plus, G.D. was already dead-tired and worn-out. But so are my team-mates. So I cant use that as an excuse. Our starting 6 was playing without a sub for almost the entire game. Before one of the strikes, our CF Nix kept on telling GD to put what happened behind him and to just focus on winning the game. Maybe because she knows GD has the tendency to take those things personally. Sometimes way too personal that it affects his performance. But Nix was right anyway. No point crying over spilled milk.

During one point in the 1st half, with the game tied 2-2, we were all down in the water when another unfortunate incident happened to the GD. His dorsal stick broke! Talk about perfect timing! GD was shocked honestly. How unlucky can anyone get? Plus that happened after my no-goal incident. So that really stressed me A LOT. Feeling helpless without a stick, I immediately went up and screamed "Nabali stick ko!!!". I swam to our sub area as fast as I could and then just said to my teammates "Nabali stick ko!!! Pahiram stick!!!". Funny thing is, without even mentioning a word, Margie, Nikki, and Nadj (our subs that time) just held their sticks up. I had to make a quick decision on whose stick I should grab. Fortunately for me, Nikki was also using a dorsal stick. So I just ripped the stick away from her gloves and continued to play. Talk about adrenaline rush!

Inspired but still ticked off with the no goal call, G.D. and the rest of the Phi2 players gave it all they got at the 2nd half. "No way we're gonna lose this one" I thought to myself. My CF Nix has been telling us that we should win this game because if we lose, we're gonna be the 1st team in the mixed division to do so. Which is somewhat embarrassing given the fact that sometimes, we we're proclaiming ourselves to be even better than Phi1. Hehehe.. Hey.. nothing wrong with a little bit of swagger. :) We just have to make sure we back it up!

We were able to score 3 straight goals after that. The Gentledog was able to score 2 straight. Assuring Phi2 of the win. No way I or my super backs Ferdie, Chari, Ines, and Roy would let these guys score 3 straight and steal the game away from us. No way that’s gonna happen. I've always said to myself that pressure situations is where great players are born. Where the men gets separated from the boys. Its a unique and special situation to be in. Its either you crack or it makes you shine even brighter. Just imagine the thoughts running in my head before the start of the 2nd half.

1. We're tired!
2. They really didn’t count my goal?!?
3. How the hell am I going to blog about this?!? (Hehehe..)
4. If we lose this one, its gonna be a very long and embarrassing WALK going to the lounge area.
5. We're the only mixed team to lose! Yikes. That’s the fact which I'm sure we all dreaded the most.
6. If we lose, my “no-goal” will haunt me for the rest of my underwater hockey career.

After the win, we were just so relieved that it was finally over. We made it! 4-0 baby! Perfect record! Now it was time to relax and do some ref duties.

Phi3 had it the hard way. Routing Sng1 and Sng3 to a 6-3 and 8-3 victory, they were unable to get by Sng2 that easily. After their game, their scores were tied 4-4 which resulted on a draw. Giving Singapore their lone point on the standings. Their game against Sng2 was exciting. Down by 2 with a couple of minutes left, Phi3 rallied behind the rabid cheers of their fellow countrymen. My brother Mighty PUHCers Junvie and Jay held their ground and their defensive area which allowed them to score 2 straight points. The crowd went wild after they made the game-trying goal! They had a chance to win it but it just wasn’t meant to be as time ran out. Its ok though. We’ll take a draw anytime over a loss J.

As faith would have it, they still have one more team to face. Although it’s a non-bearing game, this team definitely are no push-overs. Ladies and Gentlemen I’m talking about Team Japan. Hehe.. Jay and Junvie's “Pang-himagas”. Hehehe.. If they got exhausted against their game with Sng2, just imagine how harder those 2 would have to work just to keep up with all those fast Japanese players. Man, they’re gonna be in for a treat. Hehe..

Team Japan won 4-3. After being tied 3-3 for the longest time, one of the Japanese forwards got a clean breakaway which enabled them to score the game winning goal. You just have to give it to Team Japan though. Those guys were playing their 6th game of the night already! And they ONLY HAVE 7 PLAYERS!!! Talk about stamina and endurance! They really earned GD’s respect after that. Though still inexperienced, Team Japan will surely be a force to reckon with in the future given the proper training and game sense.

After the games, we all decided to eat at Lau Pa Sat where we sampled more of Singapore’s finest delicacies. The food was good and it was pretty cheap! Some of us went home to change to party clothes for what was going to be a very unusual “gimik” night.

As soon as Chock hit the dance floor at the Hed Kandi bar and felt the music, he started dancing impromptu! No warm-ups, no pre-socializing with the other Team Philippine players! He just took the dance floor and danced to his hearts content! Not to be outdone, some of the foreign guests took the challenge of doing a dance-off with PUHC’s very own Philippine Monkey. Chock eagerly accepted their challenge and took on 3 guys which he later embarrassed. Words will not be enough to explain the craziness of Chocks entire act. It was as if he planned everything. No wonder he wore two shirts. 1 Polo and 1 Tight Fit shirt underneath. It was all part of his act. Hahahaha Polo first then hell take it off to reveal his shirt inside. Chock worked the dance floor in every way possible. Doing the worm, dancing on the corridors, and heck, even doing push ups on the chair! Hahahaha. All in 1 hour!

We decided to leave and head for Ministry of Sound (MOS) right after. The Gentledog was still tired as hell from all those games that he played. So he wasn’t really excited about it. Later on, we all just decided to go home and left Achi, Jowi, Glenn, and Idol Roy behind. Hehehe.. Where we later found out that someone did A LOT MORE than just dancing at MOS. I’d love to expound more on this but what happens in Singapore stays in Singapore. Hehehe.. You owe me bro. You know who you are. Gandahan mo stick ko ha. Hehe..

DAY 3 (Sunday) – The Finale, The Wild Party, and the Ring!

This is the day most of the men from Team Philippines was looking forward to. Because on this day, they would find out if they would go home with a gold medal around their necks. Failure is not an option. We didn’t come here to finish second place. We went here to win.

The Men’s Team first game against Japan didn’t start off as planned. The four of us (Gentledog, Chock, Jay, and Milo) arrived late. When GD and Chock got into the venue the game already started. We were 5 minutes late. Fortunately for us, we were going against Japan. When we got in the water, Team Philippines was comfortably up, 3-0. Team Captain Colet had no choice but to field in 2 reserves on the men’s team. Pulling Roger and Glenn (Yes.. Ambassador Glenn) out of the x-team lineups and into the men’s team. Wow! Roger was able to score a goal but unfortunately for the Ambassador, despite his HERCULAN efforts, it just wasn’t meant to be. But he played well enough and helped our team beat Japan.

I dunno if its strategy but we once again played Singapore just after 15 minutes! This was supposed to be a non-bearing game which we honestly could just forfeit because we were already assured of our championship slot. No more point playing Singapore 2 straight games. We could just decide that this would be the championship match and end the day early. But our Team Captain still decided to go for it. Total Domination! Clean Sweep! Nothing more, nothing less.

Singapore was able to score the first goal on both occasions, giving us a quick dose of reality check. Team Captain at one point was scolding us that we should dig deep! If we decided to stay up late last night, then we shouldn’t let our game suffer because of that.

Fortunately for the men’s team, all the Philippine players still had something left in their tanks. Although they played sloppy, well.. really sloppy, they still managed to beat Singapore’s best all men’s roster TWICE and get the Gold.

After the celebrations, everyone made their way to the banquet party at Merbau bar organized by SUHC. The party went really well! It was wild! Everyone, especially Team Philippines, were having the time of their lives. Nothing beats partying with a gold medal hanging on your neck. :)

As the celebrations continued, Chock, Gentledog, and Roger participated in this jack en poy game by Japan. You’ll take off a piece of clothing everytime you lose. Unfortunately for the 3 of us, by the end of the last round, we were also down to our underwears. Hehehe…

Almost everybody got drunk. Team Captain Colet treated each of the men’s team to a round of beer. But not to be outdone, Ambassador Glenn took care of the drinks of the ENTIRE Philippine Team! Furiously swiping his credit card in his bid to get everybody drunk and happy. Thanks Amba! Iba ka talaga!

As the program went on along with the awarding of the medals and trophies, the biggest surprise of the night happened when out of nowhere, Ferdie proposed to Nikki!!! Nikki and almost all of the girls cried their hearts out immediately. Nikki, so conscious that she doesn’t look pretty that night because she was already wasted, threw up a couple of minutes after Ferdie proposed to her. Hahahaha.. But its ok, despite smelling like puke and looking really wasted, Hehe.. everybody still congratulated her and Ferdie with gusto. I for one was very happy for those two lovebirds. Because believe it or not, The Gentledog played an instrumental part, both figuratively and literally, on how those two got together. :)

The party still went on after the proposal of course, but now everyone was really in high spirits! Just as we dominated Singapore and Japan underwater, the girls of PUHC dominated, caressed, groped, hugged, kissed, and had their pictures taken with SUHCs Aussie superstar, Greg Bush.

A lot of other things we’re happening inside and outside the bar. The Gentledog, Chock, and Beejay groped every lady that dared seat on our love nest. Hehe.. People were dancing everywhere! On top of tables, chairs, and even on the bar! Alcohol is really God's gift to mankind. :)

A lot of KISSING happened also. You name it! Enough to put Gretchen and John Estradas’ “KISSCANDAL” to shame. There was a girl to girl action, a girl to guy action of course, and heck, even GUY TO GUYY action! And also.. I dunno if I should say this but there was also a girl-to-errr-guy-err-ok-girl-ano ba talaga?!?-ok-both?? scandal! hehehe.. But what happens in Singapore, stays in Singapore :) I'm sure thats a line most of the guilty ones would agree to. :) You know who you are. Hehe.. The Gentledog included. ;)

Thanks for reading! :)