Cambodia hosts first int’l inline hockey tournament

Cambodia hosted its first-ever international inline hockey tournament, after the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it from doing so for nearly three years.

Cambodia, which has a dearth of facilities that can accommodate or host inline hockey tournaments, only hosted local tournaments in the past.

It did host a selection of teams from Macao and Hong Kong four years ago for a series of friendly matches against their local counterparts. 

The friendlies were staged at the CIS Roller Dome, which also hosted the Kampuchea Inline Cup.

The CIS Roller Dome became the first air dome in Southeast Asia when it opened its doors in January 2020. It is located in the Diamond Island (Koh Pich) area of Phnom Penh. 

Called Kampuchea Inline Cup, the latest tournament drew six teams from Cambodia, Hong Kong, Thailand and other parts of the region. 

The Phnom Penh Pirates, which was composed of Cambodia-based locals and expats, were joined by Bisha India, WH Siam Reapers, Bangkok Destroyers and Phnom Penh Naga.

Despite its Thai-sounding name, the WH Siam Reapers squad was composed entirely of nationals from Hong Kong, per reports in the local press. 

Zak Garafolo, whom the local media identified as one of its organisers, said the tournament was supposed to be held just before the onset of the pandemic. 

“The tournament was first scheduled to play back in 2020, but COVID-19 had other ideas,” he said. 

Inline hockey is usually differentiated from other forms of hockey by the use of inline skates, which the players utilise to move around. It is also known as roller inline hockey. 

Phnom Penh Pirates won it all

The plucky Pirates, which was also led by Garafolo, booked a finals outing with the Reapers. 

The championship game was played before a boisterous crowd of locals and expats, who came all the way from Phnom Penh and other parts of Cambodia.

And the opposing sides did not disappoint. 

Reapers goalie Craig Roessel did an outstanding job, keeping the rampaging Pirates at bay for most of the first half. The first half ended with the Pirates clinging to a one-point edge, 2-1. 

It was only 2-1 after the first period, thanks in large part to excellent plays by Reapers keeper Craig Roessel.  

“The Pirates peppered Roessel with 27 shots in the first half, but was only able to beat him twice,” Garafolo mentioned. “He did an excellent job at the goal.” 

Tournament MVP Stefan de Gruiter and company finally breached the wall set by Roessel, scoring repeatedly to widen the gap between the two sides. 

Garafolo said those goals really took away any momentum that the Reapers might have to come back into the game. “We won from there,” he said. 

The Bangkok Destroyers downed Phnom Penh Naga, 14-3, to win the third place.