FOR the first time in the 58-year-old history of the Southeast Asian Games (Sea Games), three winter sports will debut in the 29th edition of the multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In a hot and humid region where temperatures rarely dips below 20°C and snow does not naturally occur, ice hockey, speed skating and figure skating have been included in the biennial games.

All winter sports will be played at the new Olympic-sized ice rink at Empire City, Damansara.

One of the challenges faced when it came to training the Malaysian ice hockey team was the lack of facilities.

As players are unable to conduct their training outdoors, the team held their practices at the public rink in Sunway Pyramid mall until the new rink was completed.

This proved to be challenging as the rink in Sunway was too small and not suitable for ice hockey practice.

But the challenges of playing winter sports in a tropical country has not dampened team spirit as the Malaysian team started off strong by beating Indonesia in their first match before losing to Thailand.

They are scheduled to meet with Philippines today. – August 23, 2017.