The Men’s National Curling Team is set to arrive in the Philippines on Saturday night following its historic gold medal victory at the 9th Asian Winter Games.
The team triumphed over South Korea with a 5-3 win in the final match held at the Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena.
The victorious athletes are expected to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at around 10:30 p.m. before receiving a warm welcome from the Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard Bachmann, Commissioner Olivia ‘Bong’ Coo, and Executive Director Paulo Francisco Tatad.
The Philippine contingent is composed of athletes Marc Angelo Pfister, Enrico Gabriel Pfister, Christian Patrick Haller, Alan Beat Frei, Curling Winter Sports Association of the Philippines president Benjo Delarmente, including team officials Jessica Sarah Pfister and Miguel Gutierrez.
Arriving together with the national squad are Harbin 2025 Chef de Mission (CDM) Richard Lim, Asst. CDM Paolo Tancontian, and Curling Pilipinas secretary-general Jarryd Bello.
The sport which is considered quite novel in the Philippines, having been given recognition by the World Curling just three years ago, already proved its supremacy within the Asian region and marked the Philippines’ first-ever gold medal and the best performance of any Southeast Asian nation within the history of the tournament.
“The historic victory of the country in the Men’s Curling marks a significant milestone in the growing dynamics of Philippine sports,” PSC Chairman Bachmann stated.
The sports agency chief also bared that it is the fruit of the cooperation between the Philippine Olympic Committee and the PSC that paved the way for our country to attain a well-deserved spotlight on the continental winter sporting meet.
With this major victory, the Philippines is geared towards greater challenges within the Winter Olympic and World-level competitions. The squad is set to participate in the Pan-Continental Curling Championships Division A in November for a chance to gain a ticket to the World Cup.
The team will also engage in two pre-qualifying tournaments by October and December for a chance to qualify for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
“We strongly believe that this achievement is just the beginning of our historic rise on ice for the Philippines. 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,” said Bachmann.
The golden victory of the men’s curling team placed the country within the shared fifth spot with Uzbekistan who also had their lone gold in the figure skating event. Host China, South Korea, and Japan gained the top three overall rankings in the week-long tournament.
In photos: Philippine Men’s Curling Team proudly claimed their hard-earned gold medal during the awarding rites of the Men’s Curling event in the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin China.