TEAM Philippines posted its third straight victory in Group B of the mixed doubles curling elimination round at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China.
The unranked pair of Marc Angelo Pfister and Kathleen Sumbillo Dubberstein humbled Qatar’s Nasser Abdulrahman Alyafei and Mabarka Al-Abdulla, 11-3, on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.
The Filipino duo made a remarkable comeback from an early 3-point deficit in the first end by accumulating points after points in succeeding ends that dampened the spirit of the Qataris, who failed to add any point thereafter.
The Philippines leads Group B with a 3-0 card going into Wednesday evening’s 6 p.m. match against Chinese-Taipei, which also carries a clean 2-0 slate.
With just one more elimination round match on Thursday against the winless Kazakhstan, Pfister and Dubberstein have a strong chance of advancing to the semifinals.
The Filipino tandem created a big stir Tuesday by upsetting Asia’s No.1 and world No. 13 Korea, 12-6, and world No. 45 Kyrgyzstan, 10-2.
Eleven countries are seeing action in the mixed doubles event, divided into two groups. Group B includes the Philippines, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, and host China, while Group A comprises Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Thailand.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals on Friday, with the final set for Saturday.
Meanwhile, short-track speed skater Peter Groseclose and his coach John Henry Krueger are already in Harbin ahead of the competition in the men’s 1,500 meters quarterfinal and 500m and 1,000m heats on Friday.
Expected to check in Saturday are figure skaters Cathryn Limketkai and Sofia Frank, while Paolo Borromeo, Isabella Gamez, and Alexandr Korovin are due on Sunday. (RP2 SPORTS)