Harbin, China, February 14, 2025: Mabuhay Pinoy! It was party time for the Philippines on Valentine’s Day, February 14, as their Men’s Curling Team won a historic gold medal at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China.
On the last day of the Harbin showpiece, the Philippines created their own ‘Miracle on Ice’ as they won the first-ever medal for the country in the history of the Asian Winter Games by stunning Korea 5-3.
“I can’t believe it. It’s a dream. I never expected that,” said Marc Pfister, one of the five-man team who will now famously join the pantheon of sporting underdogs who frequently grab the imagination of the world in multi-sports events.
“We somehow made it to the final, and somehow we won it and it’s really great. This makes us really proud here,” Marc added.
The ‘Miracle’ had unfolded the day before when the Pfister brothers, Marc and Enrico, Alan Frei, Christian Haller and Benjo Delarmente, sealed a heart-stopping 7-6 victory in the semi-finals over hosts China.
In the final they came up against raging favourites Korea, who had previously won two gold medals in the 2003 and 2007 AWG editions. But just two years after the launch of the Philippines Curling Federation, the men’s team who are all based in Switzerland, caused a second successive upset.
The adrenaline from defeating the Chinese the day before was still coursing through the blood as Marc Pfister pointed out: “I think we started really strong. But as the second half wore on, we were all nervous and shaky because we were in sight of the gold medal. In the end, it was a pretty good team performance.”
An overjoyed Philippines Olympic Committee was also caught in the frenzy, posting on social media minutes after the match had ended: “Mabuhay Pinoy!”
Indeed, long live the Philippines for striking a blow for the underdogs. Now it is time to look at bigger fish.
“We want to try and qualify for the Olympics. That’s our main goal, and also the Pan Continental Championships. We also want to qualify for the World Championships,” Marc revealed.
The sky’s the limit for Marc and company.
China won the men’s bronze medal defeating Hong Kong, China 10-3.