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MANILA, Philippines — If you are not an avid sports fan, chances are you do not know the sport curling.
Especially here in the Philippines, where the weather is hot and there are only two seasons — rainy and dry.
Here's what the sport is all about and why it now matters for the country.
Icebreaker
Curling, which is played on a rectangular sheet of ice, is not particularly popular here in the country because a.) the equipment is not usually readily available; and b.) there are not a lot of places you could play the sport.
But the Philippines’ historic finish in the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games recently put the country on the curling map.
The Philippines’ team members celebrate after winning the men’s gold medal game against South Korea during the Harbin 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang province on February 14, 2025.
Jade Gao/AFP
It is only the first time the Philippines fielded a curling team to the Asian Winter Games, but the squad already snagged the country’s first medal in the multi-sport event — and it was no less than a gold.
The team, made up of Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister, Alan Frei and Benjo Delarmente, had a tough journey to the final, since they had to beat Japan in the qualification before turning back hometown bet China in the semis.
They then defeated powerhouse South Korea in the final, 5-3, with the Filipino quintet holding on against the Koreans. For context, Korea won two of the past three men’s curling gold medals before this year.
But what is curling and how is it played? How do you win it? What is the objective of the game? And why are they sweeping the ice with funny-looking mops?
‘Chess on ice’
Curling, also called “chess on ice”, is an exciting game played on a strip of ice called a “sheet.”
At the end of the sheet, there are two circles — one big and one small — that look like a target, or a “house.” The center of the house is commonly known as the button.
Players in a team, or pair, slide stones that are made of granite that weighing about 20 kilograms across the sheet. Other players then use their brooms to sweep the ice and make the ice slicker for the stones to slide faster.
According to the World Curling website, the idea of sweeping is “to gently warm the surface of the ice where the stone will glide across.” It could extend the path of the stone, or could also reduce the curl, thus making the trajectory of the stone straighter.
Progression
Basically, a team could score a point for each of the stones that are closest to the button. If Team A’s stone is closer to the button than Team B’s closest stone, then they get the point at that particular round, or “end.”
All-in-all, a game has either eight or 10 ends. During the Harbin Games, there were eight ends that were played in each game.
Each team will take turns sliding their stones until the conclusion of the end.
A stone must be in the house, or touching a house, for points to be awarded. And after each end, only one team will be rewarded a score.
The team that has the most points at the end of the game wins.
But of course, there are not just offensive shots taken during a curling game. Aside from the draw, or shots “delivered to reach the house,” there are also the guard and the take-out.
There are actually three types of curling shots — a guard, a draw and a take-out.
According to the Olympics website, a guard literally guards the stones already inside the house. They are placed in front of the house, which would prevent the opposing team from reaching the button.
A take-out, on the other hand, removes stones from play.
During the gold medal match, the two teams were tied at 1-1 heading into the fourth end. Marc Pfister’s take-out play in the fourth end gave the Philippines the two-point separation, 3-1, a lead they maintained before Korea tied things up in the fifth and sixth ends.
And with the Philippines leading by one, 4-3, in the eighth end, Korea tried a take-out attack for two points for the gold medal. But the Koreans' attempt hit the guard set up by Pfister, sealing the Philippines’ first-ever medal in the Asian Winter Games.
Gold medalists Alan Frei (right) and Enrico Pfister of the Philippines react during the awards ceremony of the men’s team curling event during the Harbin 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang province on February 14, 2025.
Jade Gao/AFP
Glory road: Winter Olympics
In July last year, Frei faced members of the media, saying that the squad will try to be the first Filipino curling team in the Winter Olympics. Their “only goal” is the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, Frei said.
“What I want to emphasize is that we are trying to create history here. There are very, very few teams overall that participated in the Olympics and there is no team, there is a single person who participated in the Winter Olympics, but we will be the first one,” Frei said.
“And this is our ambition to make Filipinos proud and create history, that’s our main goal.”
With the historic gold medal in Harbin, their “only goal” may be closer to reality.
