By Hritika Sharma
BEIJING (Reuters) – Reigning world champions Britain earned a notable victory over fellow favourites Canada in a tough contest at the National Aquatics Centre on Thursday to continue their winning start to the curling mixed doubles competition.
Having beaten Sweden in the opener on Wednesday, Britons Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds faced another stern test against the Canadians but prevailed 6-4 after their opponents were unable to make final stone advantage count in the last end.
“I think it was a step up from yesterday,” Dodds said. “If anyone said at the start of the competition we’re going to be 2-0 up playing Sweden and Canada — two great oppositions — I think anyone in this field would say they’d take that.”
Canada’s John Morris, who won the inaugural mixed doubles gold in Pyeongchang, and Rachel Homan will have the opportunity to get their title defence back on track when they take on Norway in their second preliminary match later on Thursday.
Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner began their round-robin campaign with a win as they pulled off a hard-fought 8-4 victory against the United States and will face Switzerland in the second session.
The United States, who beat Australia in their opening match, had the chance to level the contest 6-6 in the eighth end but Vicky Persinger’s toss went wide. They will look to rectify the result against Norway later.
“We played a lot better in the second half of that game, which I think is mentally reassuring for Chris and I, so we’re just going to bring that half to the next game… it’s nice that it’s back-to-back for us,” Persinger said.
Australia will have to wait to register their first victory on Olympic curling ice after a second straight narrow defeat as they went down 6-5 against hosts China.
Tahli Gill’s stunning three-point shot levelled the scores to give Australia a fighting chance and she had the opportunity to throw for victory but missed the shot by the narrowest of margins.
Sweden bounced back from their opening loss to Britain, scoring two points in both the seventh and eighth ends in a 7-4 comeback win over Czech Republic before they take on China in the evening session.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma; editing by Richard Pullin)
