Women curlers reboot PH medal bid with rout of HK

Kathleen Dubberstein (left) and Marc Pfister will next anchor the women’s and men’s teams. —JUNE NAVARRO

HARBIN, China—Kathleen Dubberstein quickly got back on her feet following a foiled attempt at a medal in the 9th Asian Winter Games.

The Philippine women’s curling team skipper, Dubberstein spearheaded a calculated demolition of Hong Kong, 7-2, on Sunday as the country restarted another podium bid on a promising note.

“We got off on a good start. We just have to sustain it in our succeeding matches,” said Dubberstein a day after narrowly missing the bronze medal with Marc Pfister in the mixed doubles event.

With Leilani Sumbillo and Sheila Mariano providing able backup, the Filipinos immediately seized control in the first four ends by blanking the opposition, 6-0, at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena here.

The Philippines fortified its stranglehold of the lead in the sixth end, prompting Hong Kong to throw in the towel prior to the eighth and final end after scoring a point in the seventh.

“This victory will give us the confidence that we need and the opportunity to become better as we go along,” said Dubberstein, who is based in Wisconsin and a regular campaigner in the United States curling nationals since 2011.

They’ll face Qatar next, followed by Japan and Kazakhstan before finishing the round-robin against Thailand and Chinese Taipei prior to the medal phase on Valentine’s Day.

The PH men’s curling squad of Pfister, Christian Haller, Alan Frei and Enrico Pfister wasn’t as fortunate, dropping its opening match to South Korea, 5-1, in the round-robin of Group A.

“We didn’t achieve the result that we wanted. We have to perform well in our next games and we’ll be good,” said Pfister, the men’s captain who played for Switzerland’s national squad in the world and European championships before bringing his act to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Peter Groseclose missed the cut in the quarterfinals of the men’s 1000 meters in short track speed skating at the HIC Multifunctional Hall here.

The 17-year-old Winter Youth Olympian crossed the line third in one minute and 28 seconds in his quarterfinal heat behind semifinal qualifiers Adil Galiakhmetov of Kazakhstan (1:27.43) and China’s Liu Shaoang (1:27.72).

Groseclose also missed out on a medal earlier in the 1500 m and 500 m. INQ