MANILA — The Philippine men’s curling team is seeking financial support following their groundbreaking gold medal victory at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China—marking the first-ever gold for the Philippines and any Southeast Asian nation in the Games.

The team, made up of siblings Enrico Gabriel and Marc Angelo Pfister, Christian Patrick Haller, Allan Beat Frei, and Benjo Delarmente, triumphed over South Korea with a 5-3 win in the final on February 14.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) chair Abraham Tolentino emphasized the team’s financial struggles, explaining they cover their own expenses and need support for their upcoming Olympic qualifiers. “We need that financial support to sustain their journey to the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games,” Tolentino stated.

Under Republic Act 10699, the team is set to receive a PHP 2 million incentive.

Christian Haller, a former Swiss national player, expressed gratitude, saying, “This is a testament that even as a tropical country, we can succeed in curling.” Marc Pfister added, “We are proud to represent the Philippines on the global stage.”

The team also earned notable victories, including a 10-4 win over Japan (ranked 10th) and a 7-6 victory over China (ranked 17th), finishing with a 4-1 record in the elimination rounds, their only loss being to South Korea in the opening match.

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HARBIN, China— Unranked Marc Pfister and Kathleen Dubberstein came close to nailing a historic medal for the Philippines only to let it slip away in the 9th Asian Winter Games here on Saturday.

Han Yu and Wang Zhiyu of World’s No. 15 China denied the Filipino curling duo from climbing up the podium by pulling off a come-from-behind 6-5 victory in their mixed double, bronze-medal encounter at the Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena.

“I thought we played not that bad, the experience was not just there,’’ Pfister said after they zoomed ahead at 4-0 in the first two ends before the host country patiently erased the deficit and turned things in its favor.

It was a good run though for a nation unexpected to figure prominently in the sport after Pfister and Dubberstein breezed through the round-robin phase of 12 countries with four victories against a defeat.

The Filipinos also defeated Chinese Taipei in the qualification match before falling against eventual gold medalist Japan in the crossover semifinals.

Pfister, who played for Switzerland’s national curling team before acquiring a Philippine passport, and the Filipino-American Dubberstein saw their lead wiped out on the sixth end with Han and Wang taking command, 6-4, entering the eighth and last end.

Scoreless for five consecutive ends after immediately seizing control after the second end, Team Philippines somehow gained positional advantage in the end, but Dubberstein missed her final rock that blew their chances of a reversal.

“Personally, I think I could have done better on my last rocks, but the way I missed the shots was very marginal. So if we can work on honing those skills, I think we can do great next time,’’ said

Dubberstein, who hails from Wisconsin and played in the US nationals from 2011 to 2019.

Pfister will begin his campaign with the Philippine men’s squad on Sunday while Dubberstein joins the women’s team in competition on the same day.

“We just played six or seven games together (before the tournament) and time was running out. That was the reason,’’ said Pfister, who saw action for Switzerland in the world and European championships several times.

Speed skater Peter Joseph Groseclose failed to advance to the medal races of the men’s 1500m and 500m in short track speed skating at the HIC Multifunctional Hall.

The 17-year-old Groseclose finished sixth (2:32.668) in his 1500m semifinal heat and ended up third in the 500m quarterfinal 3 with 42.331 seconds behind China’s Lin Xiaojun (41.325) and Kazakhstan’s Abzal Azhgaliyev (41.876)

Groseclose, who participated in the Winter Youth Olympics last year, can redeem himself in the men’s 1000m on Sunday.

Over at the Alpine Skiing Slalom Stadium in Yabuli, Heilongjiang province, Utah’s Filipino-American Proulx Tallulah did not reach the podium after placing 16th against 45 skiers in her two total runs with one minute and 53.42 seconds total in the women’s slalom event.

Her time was almost 20 seconds slower than Japanese gold winner Chisaki Maeda (1:33.50). South Korea Sohui Gim got the silver with 1:34.06 time while Japanese Eren Watanabe settled for the bronze with 1:34.92 time.

THE Philippines made an immediate impact at the Ninth Asian Winter Games in Harbin with a 12-6 upset of South Korea in the mixed doubles team event of curling on Tuesday at the Pingfang Curling Arena.

The unranked pair of Filipino-Swedish Marc Pfister and Kathleen Dubberstein turned out a nightmare for the world’s No. 13 and Asia’s top-seeded South Korean tandem of Jihoon Seong and Kim Kyeongae at the start of round robin games in Group A.

“It’s indeed a delightful news and a great start for Team Philippines,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino before boarding a plane to Harbin, China’s foremost winter destination.

“It’s morale boosting ahead of this Friday’s opening ceremony and I hope we stay this way,” added Tolentino, who will rendezvous with chef de mission Ricky Lim and host a team dinner with the 20-athlete Team Philippines on Thursday.

The Koreans tried to fight back from a slow start but the Filipinos had the go-ahead and scored five more points in the seventh end to seal the victory.

“We are definitely the underdog team here but our athletes are here to compete and they are proud to represent the country,” Curling Pilipinas secretary-general Jarryd Bello said. “We have a chance to secure a medal we beat one of the top teams already.”

Eleven countries are seeing action in the mixed doubles event and were divided into two groups—Philippines, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Chinese-Taipei are in Group A and host China, Hong Kong, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Thailand are in Group B.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals on Friday with the final set on Saturday.

“We got a 5-0 start but South Korea made the game interesting, but we prevailed,” Lim said. “This win gives us and our other athletes hope and I hope we sustain our winning ways up to the medal stage.”

Pfister and Dubberstein played a pair from Kyrgyzstan later Tuesday and will take on Qatar at 10 a.m. and China at 6 p.m. to complete the round-robin stage on Wednesday.

Short track speed skater Peter Groseclose and his coach John Henry Krueger are already in Harbin ahead of the competition in men’s 1,500 meters quarterfinal and 500 and 1,000 meters heats on Friday.

Expected to check in Saturday are figure skaters Cathryn Limketkai and Sofia Frank while Paolo Borromeo, Isabella Gamez and Alexandr Korovin are due on Sunday.

The opening ceremony is set on Friday at the Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center.