Principal Standard League Players Make History

This Chinese New Year, the Hong Kong U18 Men’s Ice Hockey Team journeyed to Cape Town, South Africa for the 2016 IIHF U18 World Championship Division III Group B. Instead of joining in on the festivities back home, these boys are now battling hard in their double round-robin tournament against team New Zealand and South Africa. Although they are not going to get their red envelops in person this year, the Team got something much more memorable instead; a historic first win against home team South Africa.

With South Africa scoring the first goal 4 minutes into the game, the pressure was really on. Hong Kong player Jonathan Yiu, stepped up to the plate and managed to tie the game with an assist from scoring leader Tsang Hin Yui. It took almost 15 minutes before Luke Vivier from Team South Africa broke the tie, and shortly after, Hong Kong came back with a short-handed goal by number 17, Tsing Hing Wing. The goal was followed by three more penalty kills by Team Hong Kong but their spirits were far from dampened. The game-winning goal was finally scored by Tsang Hin Yui 5 minutes into the third period, leading the team to their first ever win in the three years they’ve been in this tournament.

This has been a long time coming, and the win ultimately boils down to the groundwork that’s been laid down, preparing the squad for this exact moment. Countless hours has been put in by hockey lovers to make the Principal Standard League a reality. Organized by the Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club and sponsored by Principal Hong Kong, the Standard League was the first local hockey league that met IIHF standards and qualified the Hong Kong Men’s and U18 Men’s Ice Hockey Team to compete in the world championships. In fact, 9 out of the 25 players who are currently competing in South Africa have participated in the development team placed in the Principal Standard League, including the player of the game, Jonathan Yiu. This premiere league aimed to introduce young players to contact hockey and to cultivate right attitudes in players across the board proved very instrumental in the preparing members of the young squad for their international tournaments. Thanks to Principal Hong Kong, young players in Hong Kong are slowly coming into their own in the international hockey scene, and will hopefully continue to do so for years to come.