THE Philippine curling team went unbeaten in a pre-Olympic qualification event at the Curl Aberdeen in Scotland over the weekend to move tantalizingly close to qualifying for the 2026 Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics in February.
The 2025 Asian Winter Games gold medal-winning team of heritage athletes Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister, Brayden Carpenter and alternate Alan Frei automatically advanced to the Olympic Qualification 2025 event in Kelowna, British Columbia, in Canada from December 6 to 19.
The top two teams in Kelowna will qualify for the Winter Olympics set February 4 to 22.
‘We’re so happy to announce that our Philippine men’s curling team is just a door step away from making it to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo,’ Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino said.
The same team beat South Korea, 5-3, in the men’s team final in Harbin last February for a historic first gold medal for the Philippines in any winter sports games.
In Aberdeen, the Pfister and company went unblemished with victories Pfister Denmark, 7-4; Chinese Taipei, 10-0; New Zealand, 6-5; Australia, 9 (7)-4; and Poland, 7-2.
‘They performed really well in Scotland and we are proud of them. We expect them to advance, and we are calling the entire nation for support and prayers,’ Tolentino said. ‘We are also hoping that the PSC [Philippine Sports Commission] support their campaign.’
Ten countries-120 quotas or 60 in each of the men and women categories-plus host Italy will qualify for the Winter Olympics.
Men’s teams from Czechia, Poland and New Zealand and Germany and Australia’s women’s squads also made the qualifiers in Canada.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror after their success in Harbin, Marc Pfister said it’s about time the Philippines make a name for itself in the curling world.
‘It’s about the country’s story. There was an opportunity to restart curling as there’s something new. It’s time to represent the Philippines,’ Pfister said. ‘I have met Alan [Frei] and Christian [Haller] telling me about this opportunity to represent the Philippines.’
The 35-year-old Marc Pfister-whose mom Milagrosa is originally from Palawan while his dad Christian is Swiss-has three men’s world championships in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and mixed doubles stints in 2015 representing Switzerland.
He stopped competing in 2020 because of the pandemic but bared that the opportunity started in September 2023 when Curling Pilipinas gave them a call to represent the Philippines.
Together with brother Enrico, Haller, Frei and Benjo Delermente, they won Division B gold and silver at the 2024 and 2023 Pan Continental Curling Championships, respectively, in Lacombe, Alberta, and British Columbia in Canada.
‘We were super happy with the gold medal in Harbin,’ said Enrico Pfister, 33, a certified electrician in Switzerland and a 24-year curling veteran.