Filipino curlers guaranteed of historic Asian Winter Games medal
MANILA, Philippines — It’s hard to imagine a tropical country like the Philippines competing and even snaring a medal in the Asian Winter Games.
But on this one freezing Thursday night in Harbin, China, Filipino curlers Marc and Enrico Pfister, Christian Haller and Alan Frei made the once impossible possible as they ensured the country it will go home with a historic medal in the quadrennial event.
It was signed, sealed and delivered via a nerve-wracking, come-from-behind 7-6 victory against the powerhouse host team — made up of Xu Xiaoming, Fei Xueqing, Wang Zhiyu and Li Zhichao — that catapulted the Nationals straight to the finals, where they are guaranteed of at least a silver medal.
It could turn into gold though if the archipelagic nation could pull off another stunner against heavy favorite South Korea, which smashed Hong Kong, 13-2, in the other semifinal pairing, in Friday’s gold medal match.
But whatever happens, these brave Filipino souls have assured the country of a breakthrough medal in the meet while bolstering hopes that it could start a ripple effect that would lead to another first — a medal in the Winter Olympics in Italy next year.
The mammoth win came on the same day the Filipinos slew fancied Japan, 10-4, that sent it to the semis.
And the team, as well as millions of Filipinos back home, is praying they would finally deliver after close brushes at a medal by the other delegation members in the other fronts.
It included figure skaters Isabella Gamez and Russian-born naturalized Filipino Aleksandr Korovin, who wound up fourth in the mixed pair free skating medal round Wednesday night.
The pair scored 155.62, which wasn’t enough for a podium finish as Uzbekistan (176.43), North Korea (168.88) and Japan (168.35) took the gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
“It’s just the nerves that really caught up to me. I just wanted to represent our flag so much and be strong, but mentally I wasn’t there,” said Gamez. “So that’s what we need to improve for us to be successful and raise our Philippine flag.”
Same with Cathryn Limketkai and Sofia Lexi Jacque Frank, who ended up ninth and 12th with a 91.91 and 76.50, respectively, in the women’s singles’ free skating medal round topped by South Korean Kim Chaeyeon (147.56).
The stinging losses thus left Paolo Borromeo as the last Filipino standing in figure skating as he was competing in the men’s singles free skating finals Thursday night.
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