Philippines curling team swak sa Asian Winter Games q’finals

MANILA, Philippines — Hindi maawat ang Philippine mixed doubles curling team matapos itarak ang ikatlong sunod na panalo nito upang makahirit ng tiket sa quarterfinals ng 9th Asian Winter Games na ginaganap sa Pingfang Curling Arena sa Harbin, China.

Tuloy ang matikas na ratsada nina Filipino-Swedish Marc Pfister at Filipino-American Kathleen Dubberstein matapos ilampaso sina Mabarka Al-Abdulla at Nasser Abdulrah Alyafei ng Qatar, 11-3, para mapatatag ang kapit sa solong liderato sa Group B.

Nauna nang pinatumba ng Pinoy duo ang world No. 13 South Korea at world No. 45 Kyrgyzstan sa unang dalawang asignatura nito.

“We just kept the same attitude heading to the next games. Our goal is to win all our round robin games and possibly sweep it,” ani Dubberstein.

Optimistiko si D­ub­berstein na makakahirit ito ng medalya sa naturang Asian meet.

“Qatar is also a deve­loping nation in curling just like us. Our game with them was a good experience,” ani Dubberstein.

Nakatakda pang harapin ng Pinoy squad ang world No. 15 China Miyerkules ng gabi.

Personal na napanood nina Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino at Secretary-Ge­neral Wharton Chan ang laro ng Pinoy squad.

“Very impressive and their confidence is growing. To win a medal, they have stay that way,” ani Tolentino.

Inihayag ni Tolentino na sina speed skater Peter Groseclose at Dubberstein ang magsisilbing flag bea­rers ng Team Philippines sa opening ceremony bukas sa Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center.

“Peter (Grosclose) already represented us in several overseas competitions, especially in the last year’s Winter Youth Olympic Games, while Kathleen is the other best available athlete as flag-bearer,” ani Tolentino.

Sasabak si Grosclose sa qualifying heats ng 1,500 meters, 100m at 500m short track speed skating events na idaraos naman sa Heilongjiang Ice Events Training Center Multifunctional Hall.