PH curlers still in strong medal contention
The national curlers remained in the hunt for an outright semifinal berth despite a streak-snapping 9-6 loss to China on Wednesday in the mixed doubles competition of curling at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China.
A strong comeback by Marc Pfister and Kathleen Dubberstein fell short as Han Yu and Wang Zhiyu stretched their own win run to three in the match that was finished in seven ends.
The Philippines is practically into the crossover quarterfinals after notching a third straight victory earlier on Wednesday over Qatar’s Mabarka Al-Abdulla and Nasser Abdulrah Alyafei, 11-3, at Harbin’s Pingfang Arena.
“We just [have to keep] the same attitude heading to the next games,” Dubberstein said.
The Pfister and Dubberstein can still make it to the semifinals outright depending on Thursday’s results. The Philippines faces Kazakhstan on Thursday and a win there coupled with a loss by China to South Korea that same day will forge a triple tie for the top spot.
The Philippines beat Asia No. 1 Korea, 12-6, in the event’s opener on Tuesday.
China is the continent’s second-ranked squad and is No. 15 in the updated rankings, two spots below Korea.
The Philippines, currently unranked in mixed doubles, dove into the China match with a lot of momentum after turning a shaky start against Qatar into a dominant win.
“Qatar is also a developing nation in curling just like us. Our game with them was a good experience.” said Dubberstein, who will spearhead the women’s team when it opens its bid on Sunday.
Against China, however, Pfister and Dubberstein endured a rough start, falling behind, 8-0, after four ends.
The Filipinos rallied with three points in ends five and seven while surrendering a point in the sixth end to move within three, but with China controlling the last shot, a steal of three in an eighth end to force extra ends would have been out of reach.
Still, the 30-year-old electrical engineering graduate from Wisconsin, United States is confident of reaching the podium with the top three nations in each of the two brackets progressing to the next round.
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and secretary-general Wharton Chan cheered for the Filipino mixed duo, expressing confidence for a potential medal in the sport.
“Very impressive and their confidence is growing. To win a medal, they have to stay that way,” Tolentino said.
Meanwhile, Tolentino announced that Dubberstein and speed skater Peter Groseclose will be the Philippine flag-bearers during the opening ceremony on Friday at the Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center.
