THE Philippines gave its best shot, but the precision of the powerhouse Singapore side was just too much as the national men's floorball team kissed its gold medal hopes goodbye with a 5-2 defeat Thursday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at UP CHK Gym.
It was the hosts' second loss in the tourney that dropped them to 1-2 and relegared to the bronze medal match.
Ryan Hallden Cater surprised the aggressive Singaporeans with a quick goal three minutes and five seconds into the match that gave the Filipinos the icebreaker.
But Suria would tie the game as he collected an errant ball and scored off of a shot from Jeremy Chia at the 16th minute to keep the score knotted after the first period.
Singapore, however, wasted little time after the interval with Syazni Ramlee scoring a goal 35 seconds in the second period to take the lead, before Chia scored for himself with a bullet of a shot at the 23rd minute to make it a 3-1 affair.
Christian Schoultze pulled one back for the Philippines at the 27th minute with the foes playing shorthanded, but Suria was quick to take the goal back at the 33:36 mark of the match.
Juin Jie Ng compounded the Philippines' woes in the final period with a stellar shot from near the halfcourt and set the ball straight through the net at the 48th minute before Singapore's defense held through late.
Still, it was a solid goalkeeping job on the part of Filipino goalkeeper Jayson Palinsad, who got 24 saves to bounce back after their 14-4 defeat to Thailand last Tuesday.
"I’m proud of the team. We stuck to the game plan. We really fought hard and dueled out there. Each guy deserves a medal," said Hallden Cater.
Focus for the Philippines now shifts to Friday's game against Malaysia, which could potentially be the same bronze medal match on Sunday.
The men's floorball team is aiming to make it to the podium after settling for a fourth place finish back in 2015 in Singapore.
"We’re gonna go to that game with the same attitude as this one. We’re gonna bring it home," Hallden Cater said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
