By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippines made heads turn, winning its first two matches at the Asian Winter Games, including a stunning 12-6 victory over South Korea in the mixed doubles event of curling on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at the Pingfan Curling Arena in China.
The unnseeded Fil-Swiss Marc Pfister and Fil-Am Kathleen Dubberstein brought down world No. 13 Seong Jihoon and Kim Kyengae in the opening round of the round-robin hostilities in Group A.
A few hours later, Pfister and Dubberstein routed Kyrgyzstan’s Keremet Asanbaeva and Iskhak Abykeev, 10-2, to make it 2-0 for the PH crew.
They next face Qatar at 10 a.m. and China at 6 p.m. to complete the round-robin stage on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
The Koreans, who are Asia’s top-seeded pair, fought back from a slow start, but by that time they pulled their acts together, the PH bets had already gained the needed momentum and confidence by scoring five more points in the seventh end to seal the win.
Eleven countries are seeing action in the mixed doubles event and were divided into two groups. Joining PH and South Korea are Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei, while Group B is composed of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Thailand.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 7, with the final set on Saturday, Feb. 8.
“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.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Bambol Tolentino said the win is a strong sign for the country’s campaign in this meet.
“It’s a morale boost ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony and I hope we stay this way,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Bambol Tolentino.
Meanwhile, 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.
