Day seven of the Kuntai World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2021, taking place in the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing, China concluded with two semi-finals and saw China and Sweden move into the final. RCF and United States will play for the bronze medals.
China edge out United States to claim spot in the final
In the first semi-final, last year’s fourth-place finishers and Paralympic title holders, China, played against United States, who qualified for this event by winning the World Wheelchair B-Curling Championship earlier this year.
China started the game in an excellent manner, scoring three points in the first end. United States responded with a score of two points in the second end.
In the third end, United States stole a single point, when China skip Wang Haitao rolled too far with his shooter, giving up a steal of one point. The score was level at three after three ends.
In the fourth end, China put together another excellent end, scoring three points. The teams went into the half-time break with China leading by 6-3.
In the fifth end, United States scored only a single point, after United States skip, Matthew Thums came up short with his last draw attempt. In the sixth end, China scored a single point, as Wang was heavy with his last draw.
In the seventh end, China forced United States to take a single point. Going into the eighth end, China led by 7-5, and held the last-stone advantage. In that last end, China scored a single point and earned their place in the final with an 8-5 victory over United States.
After the game, China second player, Sun Yulong said “The US is a strong team, but we are lucky that we played well, and I’m very excited now. In the fourth end, the US made a mistake, so we saw the opportunity and got three points and that encouraged the whole team.”
Sweden reaches world final after a commanding win over RCF
In the second semi-final, reigning world champions, RCF, played against Sweden, the current world championship bronze medallists.
Sweden started off the game in a great way, stealing two points in the first end when RCF skip Konstantin Kurokhtin caught a guard with his last take-out attempt.
RCF blanked the second end and scored two points in the third end to level the game at two, going into the fourth end. In that fourth end, Sweden scored two points to take a 4-2 lead at the break.
In the fifth end, Sweden was putting stone after stone in the house without hammer. Kurokhtin was facing six Swedish counters when he threw his last stone. His draw attempt was light, and RCF gave up a steal of six points to Sweden.
After five ends, Sweden led the game by 10-2. Before the sixth end, RCF made a line-up change and from that end on, Andrei Meshcheriakov threw last stones. In the sixth end, RCF scored a single point.
In the seventh end, Sweden responded by scoring two points, and led the game by 12-3. At this point, RCF conceded defeat to Sweden.
After the game, Sweden skip Viljo Petersson-Dahl said “I’m very happy. The team played so well, so I’m so happy now. I was disappointed at the last worlds, when we lost against Canada in the semi-final, but this time we won and took a place in the final. It’s fantastic. I think we have to enjoy the win tonight, get some rest and eat some. We will be prepared.”
China and Sweden will compete for the gold medals and the world title, while RCF and United States will compete for the bronze medals. Both medal games will take place on Saturday (30 October).
All times are China Standard Time (CST) which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +8 hours.
Results Semi-finals: China 8-5 United States; Sweden 12-3 RCF.
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