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| Coach Miguel Gutierrez, Alan Beat Frei, Enrico Gabriel Pfister Jarryd Bello VIII Curling secretary general Hon Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino, Benjo Delarmente Curling Pilipinas President/Athlete, Marc Angelo Pfister, Christian Patrick Haller and Coach Jessica Pfister at Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City. POC |
TAGAYTAY—The Philippine men's curling team was off to a bad start in the Asian Winter Games with a 1-6 beating by South Korea in their first group stage battle.
However, the early setback was all the Filipino curlers needed to get their groove going.
"That being our first game, we had to get used to the ice," head coach Miguel Gutierrez told Dugout Philippines on Sunday, a day after the national team went home from Harbin, China.
He then likened their first meeting with the Koreans to how golfers feel during Day 1 of a major golf tournament where they had to get the feel of the grass and the wind tendencies before unleashing their best game in the last three rounds.
After quickly getting the feels of the Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena's frozen flooring, the Filipinos took off from there, winning the next five games including huge upsets against Japan and China in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
And then came the rematch against South Korea for all the marbles.
In a game where you need to slide as many curling stones closer to the bullseye as possible to win the period, called end in curling terms, the Philippine team, already aware of how the stones would glide through the frozen floor and the Koreans' strengths, pulled off a defensive masterclass late in the final to secure the 5-3 win as the quintet of Marc and Enrico Pfister, Christian Haller, Alan Frei, and Benjo Delarmente painted the Philippines gold on Valentine's Day.
"We adjusted to the ice and conditions. Luckily, the rest of the round robin, we were fairly certain that we would be able to win," Gutierrez further said.
He added that the 13-2 rout of South Korea against Hong Kong in the semifinals made it easier for them to learn more about their tendencies and game plans.
In the end, the Philippines held South Korea to its lowest output in the entire tournament while denying them of a full 6-0 sweep to capture the gold, the first ever gold in any winter multi-sport event.
The Philippine curling team returned home on Saturday night and was given a congratulatory welcome by top officials from the Philippine Sports Commission upon arrival at NAIA Terminal 1 in Pasay.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino, also the mayor of this city, then welcomed the newly crowned Asian Games champs to his hometown and organized a press conference at the Knights Templar Ridge Hotel here.
According to Tolentino, being Asian Games gold medalists, the Philippine curling team is eligible for the top cash incentive from the national government as stated in Republic Act 10699 even if fewer countries participate in the said continental event's winter edition.
Up next for the Philippine curlers is the Winter Olympic pre-qualifying event later this year, the next step toward their Olympic dreams.
The top three teams in the pre-qualifying phase will enter the main Olympic qualifying tournament just before the 2026 Olympiad in Milan.
Only two teams from the OQT will make it to Milan.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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