Two thrilling extra end matches decided the medals in Cortina
Mixed doubles curling – in wheelchairs – made an impactful Paralympic Winter Games debut in Cortina as China won an all-Asian final by a 9-7 count over Korea.
After Korea grabbed three in the seventh end to trail 7-6, China’s Wang Meng had the winning stone at the end of her throwing stick in the eighth and final end... but came up short.
This gave Korea a steal of one at 7-7, forcing an extra end.
China celebrates • CBC OlympicsWith nerves frayed on both teams, the extra end saw numerous half-shots and a handful of misses. Ultimately, on her last stone, Korea’s Baek Hyejin was wide and heavy on her final draw attempt and Wang, who was partnered with Yang Jinqiao, didn’t need to throw her final stone.
Baek was paired with Lee Yongseuk.
China had stormed to early leads of 3-0, 5-1 and 7-3 before the wild final three ends brought the crowd at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium to their feet.
The bronze medal game proved to be a fantastic slugfest between Latvia and United States. The thriller only came to its finale in another extra end, as Latvia took it 11-10.
USA opened with four, and Latvia promptly went to their power play to score five – making it 5-4 after just two ends.
Polina Rozkova • CBC OlympicsUSA’s Laura Dwyer and Steve Emt added another four in the sixth end to go up 9-7, but Latvia’s Polina Rozkova and Agris Lasmans took three, forced USA to one in the 10th end and stole the extra.
USA was the only squad to defeat China in the round robin. China finished 6-1 while USA, Korea and Latvia all finished at 4-3.
China defeated Latvia 8-3 in one semifinal while Korea upended USA 6-3 in the other semi.
USA vs CHN • OIS-Kirsty Wigglesworth via Imagn ImagesGreat Britain and world champions Japan both finished at 3-4, while Estonia and hosts Italy wound up at 2-5.
Meanwhile, the fours teams in Paralympic wheelchair curling are approaching the playoffs. Canada (6-0) and China (6-1) have both clinched the first playoff berths, while Sweden sits at 5-2 and Korea at 4-3.
Slovakia and USA are 3-4, Italy at 2-4, Latvia and Norway both 2-5 and Great Britain at 1-6.