Victorious PH team in Asian Winter Games arriving Saturday

Members of the Philippine men’s curling team receive their gold medals during the awarding rites of the men’s curling event in the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin China on Friday (Feb. 14, 2025). (Contributed photo)

MANILA, Philippines – The men’s national curling team will come home to a grand welcome Saturday night following its historic golden feat at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China.

The Philippines beat erstwhile undefeated South Korea for the gold, 5-3, at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena. It was the Philippines’ first-ever gold in the Games.

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The Filipinos lost their very first game in the group stage against the Koreans, 6–1.

The squad is set to participate in the Pan-Continental Curling Championships Division A in November for a chance to gain a World Cup berth.

It is also entered in two prequalifying tournaments in October and December for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

The team is based and trains in Bern, Switzerland. It is expected to land at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 in Parañaque City at around 10:30 p.m.

The Philippine contingent is composed of skipper Marc Angelo Pfister, Enrico Gabriel Pfister, Christian Patrick Haller and Alan Beat Frei; Curling Winter Sports Association of the Philippines president Benjo Delarmente; and team officials Jessica Sarah Pfister and Miguel Gutierrez.

“The deciding moment is the first half of the game where we could manage to have the lead and go into the break with the lead (at 3–1 after four ends), then we could manage to bring this to the end,” Haller told Xinhua news agency.

Chef de mission Richard Lim and his deputy, Paolo Tancontian, and Curling Pilipinas secretary general Jarryd Bello will accompany the team.

“The historic victory of the country in men’s curling marks a significant milestone in the growing dynamics of Philippine sports,” Philippine Sports Commission Chair Richard Bachmann said in a news release. “Our remarkable performance at the Asian Winter Games lays the foundation for the greater challenge of achieving Winter Olympic and World-level success in the years to come.”

The win enabled the Philippine men’s curling team to share fifth spot with Uzbekistan, which also snared its lone gold in the figure skating event.

As of posting time, host China is the virtual overall winner with a 32-27-26 gold-silver-bronze tally, followed by South Korea (16-15-14), Japan (10-12-15), and Kazakhstan (4-9-7).

Behind the Philippines and Uzbekistan are North Korea (0-1-0), and Chinese Taipei and Thailand which have a bronze each. (PNA)