Winter Olympics 2022 - Great Britain reign supreme with victory over China in mixed doubles curling

Updated 06/02/2022 at 09:21 GMT

Great Britain took a big step towards mixed doubles curling qualification after beating China 6-5 at the National Aquatics Centre. Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds came from 4-1 down to propel themselves to second place in the overall leaderboard with two games to play. Speaking after the game, Dodds said: “In mixed doubles you never give up.”

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Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds led Great Britain to victory in their mixed doubles curling clash with China, propelling Team GB to second in the overall standings.

The top four teams from qualifying will proceed to the semi-finals and fight for a medal, meaning GB’s win on Saturday morning put the pair in a crucial position heading into their final two games.

"We know in mixed doubles you never give up because you can get threes or even fours so easily, we knew we weren't out of it and stuck in there,” Dodd told the BBC afterwards.

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Great Britain face Norway in their next game, who are fifth in the standings after six games played, and still well within a shout to qualify.

"It's a rematch of the world final back in May. We'll need to keep playing like we did in that second half. I think it'll be a really good game."

The Brits started best and were in pole position after a steal at the first end, but soon after China turned the tie around and were leading 2-1 after the second.

They had the hammer and Fan Suyuan utilised the advantage leaving two stones on the button, knocking GB’s out of the house and edging China in front.

Team GB had the hammer in the third end and things looked promising when Mouat's first throw landed right on the button, but it was China who robbed the point to extend their lead. Dodds attempted to smash open a busy Chinese house with the final throw but only managed to dislodge one stone much to China’s relief.

The fourth end was another strategic one. Dodds with the hammer attempted a wide curl line to find an opening through another busy house and save Team GB from falling further behind, but couldn’t prevent a second consecutive Chinese steal, who headed for the halfway stage 4-1 up.

After four ends played, China could boast a 78% overall accuracy compared to Great Britain’s relatively disappointing 69%. The tie was far from over but Mouat and Dodds had given themselves a lot to do after the interval.

Great Britain were forced to use their power play in the fifth end and managed to draw level with an important three points. SuYuan played a blinder for China with the penultimate throw of the end, sacrificing her own stone and going full power to knock three British stones out of the house, minimising the damage and ensuring their opponents only picked up three points from a potential four and taking the lead.

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Great Britain were soon back on top, a deserved steal in the sixth end put the tie back in their favour despite China deploying their power play.

China managed to steal a point back in the penultimate end, but Team GB were left with the hammer going into the eight and final end, ultimately winning the match with a throw to spare.

It was an impressive turnaround from Mouat and Dodds, with each team's stats at the end of the match mirroring their opponents at the halfway stage. Team GB bettered their overall accuracy to 78%, whilst China’s dropped to 69%.

USA and Czech Republic were also in action at the National Aquatics Centre, with the latter beating the former 10-8, and moving level with them in the overall leaderboard after seven games. Both have won three of their games, and lost four.

American pair Vicky Persinger and Christopher Plys took a 1-0 lead in the first end, but were soon pegged back and found themselves behind by two points after the second.

In another dramatic twist, USA edged narrowly ahead after the third end, but a four point Czech haul in the fourth meant the game changed hands again.

After five ends the scores were level at 7-7, and both teams drew a blank in the sixth to drum up more tension on the sheet. The seventh end fell in favour of USA who stole a point, but Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul bounced back for Czech Republic claiming three points in the final end.

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