MANILA – The Philippine Curling Team overcame a tough stand from South Korea to score a 5-3 victory and capture the gold medal in the 2025 Asian Winter Games on Friday at the Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena in Harbin, China.
Brothers Enrico and Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Benjo Delarmente, and Alan Frei had a collective effort to secure the country’s first-ever gold medal in the Winter competition.
After a goalless first period, Team Philippines opened the scoring in the second frame for a 1-0 lead before South Korea bounced back in the third period to tie the count at 1-1.
Team Philippines caught fire in the fourth period as they increased the advantage to 3-1 but South Korea countered with a conversion each in the fifth and sixth period for a 3-all score.
Team Philippines then managed to regain the advantage in the fourth period at 4-3 before they wrapped up the gold medal with another connection in the penultimate eighth period.
“This is the Philippines’ first medal (in Winter Games), first gold medal of an ASEAN athlete in the Asian Winter Games,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
“This is a great achievement that opens the door for our country’s first Winter Olympics medal,” he added.
The victory also avenged Team Philippines’ 1-6 defeat to South Korea in the group stages as they won their last six matches in the event.
On the part of South Korea, on the other hand, it was a painful loss as they were one win away from an unbeaten run in the competition.
The Philippines arranged the gold medal match by edging host team China, 7-6, in the semis, while South Korea blasted Hong Kong, 13-2, in the other semifinal pairing to reach the finals./PN
