PH men's curling team wins first Asian Winter Games gold medal

The Philippines made history on Friday as the men's curling team delivered the country's first ever Asian Winter Games gold medal after defeating South Korea, 5-3, in the finals in Harbin, China.

This is also the country's first medal in any edition of the Asian Winter Games.

According to World Curling, "Curling is a team sport, played on ice, where two teams take turns to slide stones made of granite towards a target – known as a House." 

The "house" has four rings which determine the stone closest to the centre, also known as a button. Each team has eight stones to use per round, also known as an end, and only one team will get a score in each end. Points are given to stones "located in or touching the house that are closer to the centre than any stone of the opposite team."

Curling Pilipinas, formally known as the Curling Winter Sports Association of the Philippines, is composed of Filipinos residing in the United States, Canada, and Switzerland. In a previous interview with GMA News Online, the team eyes to compete in the Winter Olympics. 

The Philippines had an early 3-1 lead by the fourth end before South Korea scored one each in the next two ends to tie the game. The Philippines registered one in the seventh end to take the lead before surviving a close attempt from the Koreans in the final end as Curling Pilipinas scored one, enough to hand the country its first gold medal. 

The team is composed of Marc Pfister, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister, Alan Frei, and Benjo Delarmente, with Jessica Pfister as coach.

The Philippine team advanced to the gold medal match after eking out a 7-6 win against China in the semifinals. Prior to this, Curling Pilipinas drubbed Japan, 10-4, in the semis qualifier.

The Philippines finished second in Group A of the round robin with a 3-1 win-loss card. It opened its campaign with a loss against South Korea, 6-1, before winning three straight against Kazakhstan (4-1), Kyrgyzstan (12-2), and Chinese Taipei (11-3). 

This also capped the country's campaign in the Asian Winter Games as the Philippines entered the medal tally board after the victory.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News