Kazakhstan women earn first Pacific-Asia win
Monday morning’s (4 November) game against Hong Kong marked Kazakhstan’s first win of the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2019.
Kazakhstan stole three points in the fifth end, followed by steals in both the eighth and ninth ends to seal the victory, 9-4.
Kazakhstan’s skip, Sitora Alliyarova commented on their strategy to earn the win. “Our strategy was to make sure we got as many stones as possible into the house and took our chances to steal points.
“We were very nervous and now very happy to get our first win in this event.”
After this session, hosts, China remain the only unbeaten team with three wins, after their game against Japan. Chinese Taipei and Korea also recorded wins, against Qatar and Australia respectfully.
World Junior skip comfortable
China, skipped by Yu Han, who competed at the World Junior Curling Championships 2019 in Liverpool, Canada, met Japan in their third game.
China stole one in the fifth, sixth and seventh ends to take a 5-2 lead, until Japan fought back with two points in the seventh end, followed by two more in the eighth.
Han, who is competing in her first women’s event, held her composure and drew for two points, and the win 7-6 in the tenth end.
“This game was our first game on TV, so we were a little nervous. But we did well and it exceeded our expectations. We will stick to our game plan to play each game seriously and do our best,” said Han.
Chinese Taipei fight back
Down 8-1 after seven ends against Qatar, Chinese Taipei had a steep hill to climb with only three ends left.
In the eighth end, there was a glimmer of hope when Chinese Taipei stole three points to make the score 8-4. That hope became stronger when they stole four points in the ninth end to tie the game, 8-8, heading into the final end. In the tenth end, Qatar ticked off a guard on their final shot, giving Chinese Taipei a stolen single point to win 9-8.
A tight game featuring Korea’s Un Chi Gim against Australia’s Lauren Wagner saw Korea score four points in the seventh end to pull away with the victory, 10-5.
The Korean skip, Gim, feels the team is feeling more stable with each game. “The situation was tough but we tried our best to figure out the ice, which we did. I think that’s how we approached the game and got the four points in the seventh end.”
Results session three: Kazakhstan 9-4 Hong Kong; Chinese Taipei 9-8 Qatar; Australia 5-10 Korea; China 7-6 Japan
Standings after session three
China 3-0
Japan 2-1
Korea 2-1
Chinese Taipei 2-1
Australia 1-2
Hong Kong 1-2
Kazakhstan 1-2
Qatar 0-3
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