Filipino-American skater qualifies for 2024 Winter Youth Olympics

By Randy Caluag

FILIPINO-AMERICAN Peter Groseclose will represent the Philippines in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in South Korea.

The announcement was relayed by the International Skating Union to Nikki Cheng, president of the Philippine Skating Union on Wednesday, more than a week after Groseclose participated in the World Juniors Championships in Dresden, Germany.

The 15-year-old Groseclose qualified in three events, namely the 500-meter short tracks speed skating, where he finished 32nd out of 68 participants from all over the globe; 100 meters, where he finished 35th out of 67 bets and in the 1500 meters, where he placed 43rd out of 63 competitors.

“We’re proud of Peter because at 15, he’s one of the youngest participants and he beat some older competitors. So we think, in the Olympics (World Youth),

Filipinas competing in Europe for 1st time

By Peter Atencio

A LOT is expected of the fired-up Philippine national women’s football team as it left for Spain on Thursday to take part in a competition in Europe for the first time.

Team captain Inna Palacios, who just turned 29 on Tuesday, said she will be at her best when the Filipinas get sharp and and ready for the Pinatar Cup 2023 from February 15 to 21 in San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia, Spain.

“I expect myself to be at my best all the time. It’s a team effort,” said Palacios during a huddle with scribes at the New World Hotel in Makati City.

Their buildup since last year is expected to make the Filipinas a stronger team, but one team member wants to temper all the hype.

“We have big shoes to fill, and with big expectations from outside our circle, we have to be realistic with our own expectations,” said team co-skipper Halli Long.

The Filipinas are making a bid to sustain their buildup for the FIFA Women’s World Cup as they will be facing higher-ranked European sides like Wales, Scotland and Iceland in their coming encounters in the Pinatar Cup.

The Filipinas’ first match will be against 32nd-ranked Wales on February 15. Their next opponent will be 25th-ranked Scotland on February 18, before they wrap up their campaign against no. 16 Iceland on February 21.

Members of the Malditas discussed their coming competition during a meeting with executives of adidas, which signed the team to a four-year partnership, through the Philippine Football Federation.

he can fare better,” said Cheng in an interview with the Manila Standard.

Cheng was alluding to the quirky qualifying system, where countries can send their best seniors to get two slots for their team, then they are allowed to send young players to take the slots.

“Anything can happen. They say in basketball, bilog ang bola. On the ice, we call it ‘madulas ang yelo’. There are uncertainties that could happen in favor or against any athlete,” Cheng added.

The Washington-based Groseclose prepared hard for the Juniors’ Qualifying event as he competed in three Seniors’ tournaments last year --first in the World Cup 1 in Canada, World Cup 2 in Utah, and the Four Continents Cup, also in Utah, where he listed a new national record in the 1,000-meters’ event. This will be the third time that the Philippines, a tropical country, is able to qualify an athlete the world winter games for junior athletes. The first was figure skater Michael Martinez in 2012 and the second was Julian Macaraeg in 2020, also in the short track event.

“We’re just doing what we’ve been doing in training – play our best and not rush things up. We also try to correct our mistakes quickly,” said Jema Galanza, who delivered 13 kills to spearhead Creamline’s fiery assault and clinch the player of the game honors.

Michele Gumabao actually topscored for the team with 14 points while Tots Carlos matched Galanza’s output and middles Ced Domingo and Pangs Panaga combined for 16 points. But the highflying Galanza provided the highlight plays with her stinging spikes to perk up what had been a lopsided duel.

“I hope to stay consistent and help provide the leadership and more importantly, improve communication (inside the court),” said the former Adamson U stalwart, who also finished with seven excellent receptions.

The Cool Smashers pulled away late in the opening frame, held off Cignal’s charge midway in the second then dominated the third with their power plays and quick attacks that the HD Spikers had no answer for.

“Overall, maganda ung naging galaw namin at yung ibang break napunta sa min, lalo sa second set nung humabol ang Cignal. Sana magtuloy-tuloy na,” said Creamline coach Sherwin Meneses.

Creamline finished with 48 kills, 25 more than the HD Spikers, who produced just one double-digit output courtesy of Ces Molina, who fired 12 points. Chay Troncoso wound up with six markers while gunners Roselyn Doria and Rachel Anne Daquis could only combine for seven points and middle blocker Riri Meneses struggled for just three points.