Click photo to enlarge
Back from the World under-18 International Ice Hockey
Federation Championship 2009 in Taipei are Mitchell Frear
(15), of Queenstown, Chris Dale (17), of Gore, Gareth Lloyd
(16), of Cromwell, and Luke Pickering (15), of Queenstown.
Photo by Felicity Wolfe.
Four tired but satisfied Southern ice hockey players
returned home on Saturday with silver medals from the 2009
World under-18 International Ice Hockey Federation Championship
in Taiwan.
The players who arrived at Queenstown Airport were part of
the national team which won silver at the division III, group
A championship.
None of them were in the team previously - and despite
several newcomers in the squad, New Zealand managed to go one
better than last year's bronze medals.
Mitchell Frear and Luke Pickering, of Queenstown, Gareth
Lloyd, of Cromwell, and Chris Dale, of Gore, travelled to the
championship last month to Taipei, after a week-long training
camp in Auckland.
In Taipei they played against teams from Australia, Chinese
Taipei, South Africa and Mongolia, losing only one game to
gold medallists Australia.
Mitchell's mother, Luana Frear, said the team was very happy
with the result.
"We never expected to get gold - Australia were always the
favourites . . . but Chinese Taipei were classed as second
favourites, so we thought they might get bronze."
Australia will now be promoted to division II and, depending
on which team gets relegated, next year could be exciting.
"We just have to wait and see," Mrs Frear said.
Mitchell, the youngest player on the team, was named Most
Valuable Player in the match against Mongolia, and was
second-highest scoring defender in the championships.
The boys' priority before returning to school today was to
catch up on some sleep after a gruelling long haul flight
home.
