Winter Olympics 2022 - Great Britain move to second after 7-6 win over China in men's curling
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BySam Webb
Updated 13/02/2022 at 10:44 GMT
"It's a Hammie-Lammie double whammy" was the commentary line on discovery+ as Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan delivered a typically well-weighted stone in the second end, before Great Britain powered through for a solid 7-6 win against China in the men's curling. GB now move to second in the round robin standings at Beiijng 2022, with the top four going through to the knockouts.
‘Hammy-Lammie double whammy’ – GB show their class during China success
Great Britain beat China 7-6 despite only scoring in two ends as they moved to second in the men’s curling round robin standings.
The British quartet, led by skip Bruce Mouat, were at their impressive best, showing why they’re European champions and in amongst the medal favourites in Beijing.
They scored a fantastic four in one end and a three in another, happy to otherwise blank ends and hold their lead.
Mouat’s world silver medallists came into their fourth round robin match confident off the back of an 8-3 win over Norway, knowing a win would be crucial to keep them among the front-runners.
They looked on top from the off, though China skip Ma Xiuyue drew the button against three with the last throw of the first end to save a point for his side – a superb shot when the pressure was on to give the Chinese an early lead.
GB then found their groove as Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan worked together to leave GB lying two – “It’s a Hammie-Lammie double-whammy” was the commentary line.
A moment of magic from Mouat took his side straight from 1-0 down to 4-1 up when the skip’s perfect throw cleared China’s red stone from range and left four yellows in the house.
Ma Xiuyue cut the deficit to one after the fourth end and Mouat blanked the fifth so that GB could hold their 4-3 lead at the game’s halfway point.
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Three consecutive blank ends followed after the break, which hardly thrilled the Chinese spectators in the stands, but it meant GB held their lead and retained last-rock advantage going into the eighth.
China gambled with their final stone of the eighth end but it did not pay off, meaning some excellent stone management saw GB throw three on the board and lead 7-3.
This was just the second end of the game they had scored in.
China were able to grab one back in the ninth and two in the tenth, but GB had the hammer and knew they did not need to score another, meaning the win was never really in doubt.
The Brits, who now move to three wins and one loss and are well amongst the medal hunt, will face a winless Denmark at 12:05 GMT.
GB are closing in on the semi-finals, and Mouat believes they are on course: "I really enjoyed that game. It was a different sort of game to what we've had so far - a lot of hits.
"It felt like they didn't really want to take us on. We are a very good drawing and tap team, so I can understand why they didn't do that.
"Looking back to last week [in the mixed doubles], I've got a wee bit of experience of what the round robin can look like.
"I think six wins would be ideal, or seven wins would or eight even! But I think six will probably be enough."
Elsewhere, Olympic champions USA saw their medal hopes take a hit with a 10-5 loss to Canada - their third defeat in five games.
Sweden maintained their 100% record with a 6-4 win over Norway, holding their lead at the top of the leaderboard, while the Russian Olympic Committee claimed a 6-4 victory over strugglers Italy.
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