Winter Olympics 2022 - Great Britain's women's curlers may need help from other rinks to qualify for semi-finals
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BySam Webb
Updated 16/02/2022 at 09:09 GMT
“We weren't bad out there," said GB skip Eve Muirhead after a shock 8-4 defeat to China in Beijing, "we gave ourselves a lot of chances but unfortunately didn’t manage to finish it off". Will that be the story of the GB women's curling team's 2022 Games? They have struggled for consistency, beating medal favourites but then losing to strugglers such as China. Have they done enough?
‘The slimmest of margins’ – Fans ‘thrilled’ after China deal GB disappointing defeat
The fate of Great Britain’s women’s curlers at the Beijing Winter Olympics may be out of their hands after an unexpected 8-4 defeat to China.
GB now not only need to win their final round robin fixture against the Russian Olympic Committee but to hope other results fall in their favour as well.
Eve Muirhead’s rink currently sit joint-fifth in the standings, level with the United States, with the top four progressing to the semi-finals.
A win against ROC, which is expected, would take them to five wins and four losses, but if any teams are still tied then qualification will be based on head-to-head results.
Looking at the teams sitting around GB in the standings, they have beaten Japan and the USA but lost to Canada and South Korea – so if qualification is to come down to head-to-heads, Britain’s fate is far from certain.
China, despite having already seen their qualification hopes dashed before Wednesday's game, were superb against Britain.
GB skip Muirhead was quick to commend her rink’s impressive opponents, saying they played "very well".
"Unfortunately we just didn’t get the inches here and there that were on our side,” she told BBC Sport.
“We weren't bad out there, overall we can't be too disappointed for that performance; we gave ourselves a lot of chances but unfortunately didn’t manage to finish it off.
"All we can do is concentrate on ourselves, fingers crossed, we need to recharge and come back tomorrow against ROC.”
Frustratingly, GB were able to storm to a huge 8-2 victory against current runners-up Sweden earlier in the competition and yet fell to a Chinese side that had no hopes of progressing.
“We have proven we can beat the best teams here but haven't managed the consistency. Overall we can manage it and will give it a go. It's sport,” added Muirhead.
Asked if her teammates had let pressure affect their performance against China, GB’s Vicky Wright said it “actually felt pretty similar to our other games” on the ice.
“We probably weren’t as up as what we have been, but everyone was out there fighting on the same page and we were trying for every shot.
“You can’t be up high every day; we knew the job that had to be done and we went out there and tried to give it our best.”
GB will take on ROC on Thursday 17 Feb at 06:05 GMT.
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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.
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