Curling breakthrough

February 21, 2025 | 12:00am

In sports, curling has nothing to do with hairdressing. It’s a game where two opposing teams of four alternate sliding round, heavy granite stones, called rocks, to hit a circular target on an ice surface. The objective is to compile the highest points over eight ends or innings where the scoring is based on the closest a rock rests at the center of the target, called a house. A team has eight rocks to push with each player throwing two. Precision, accuracy and teamwork are involved in causing the rock to rotate while sliding on a path described as a curl. Players use a broom or brush to “sweep” the ice in clearing the way for the rock to traverse a straight line towards the house.

Curling became a mainstream Olympic winter sport when it was officially added into the calendar in 1998. The game made its Asian Winter Games debut in 2003. The Philippines’ participation in the Asian Winter Games dates back to 1990 in Sapporo where one athlete, alpine skier Michael Teruel, represented the nation in men’s giant slalom and slalom. A Fil-Am born in Buffalo, New York, Teruel also wore the national colors at the 1992 Winter Olympics. The Philippines skipped the next two Asian Winter Games and reemerged in 2007 with five figure skaters, none coming close to a podium finish. In the 2011 edition, the Philippines was represented by three figure skaters and in 2017, the delegation was made up of 29 athletes in three sports. The breakdown was four figure skaters, including two-time Winter Olympian Michael Martinez, 23 ice hockey players, one short track speed skater and one snowboarder. The hockey team finished 13th of 18, posting a 3-1 record in Division II. Thailand, where it doesn’t snow, placed fifth so not enjoying a winter season isn’t an impediment.

This year, the Asian Winter Games were held in freezing Harbin, China, the Ice City’s second hosting since 1996. Tourists flock to Harbin during winter to marvel at the ice sculptures on display during the world’s largest ice and snow festival. The Philippines brought over 19 athletes in five sports – two alpine skiers, 10 curlers, five figure skaters, one freestyle skier and one short-track speed skater. It would’ve been 20 athletes but snowboarder Adrian Tongko withdrew after going down with a knee injury while training in Japan.

The curlers competed in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. In a historic breakthrough, the men’s team made up of four Fil-Swiss players Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and Alan Frei plus Curling Pilipinas president/alternate Benjo Delarmente pocketed the gold, the Philippines’ first-ever medal in the Asian Winter Games. The road to the top started on the wrong foot as the curlers lost to South Korea, 6-1, in their debut. Then came an unbeaten streak of six wins over Kazakhstan, 4-1, Kyrgyzstan, 12-2, Chinese-Taipei, 11-3, Japan, 10-4 and South Korea, 5-3, to bag the gold. POC president Mayor Bambol Tolentino, who was in Harbin as the country’s No. 1 cheerleader, once more proved true to his calling as the Man With The Golden Touch, reprising the Philippines’ golden breakthrough at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the double-golden feat at the 2024 Paris Olympics.