15 March 2024
China and Korea to play for World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles gold
Friday 15 March at the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2024 was all about play-off games. In the morning, the quarter-finals were held in the Gangneung Curling Centre. In the evening, the winners of the quarter-finals — China, Italy, Japan and Korea — played in the semi-finals.
21 teams played in three round-robin groups of seven teams from 11 to 14 March. The top two teams in each group plus the two third-ranked teams with the better Draw Shot Challenge qualified for the quarter-finals and were ranked one to eight.
The quarter-final pairings were United States versus Japan, China versus Latvia, Slovakia versus Italy and Korea versus Estonia.
Quarter-finals
United States versus Japan
Last year’s silver medallists, United States finished their round-robin campaign undefeated and they met eighth-ranked Japan. Japan were leading the game by 3-2 at half time, mostly due to single steals in the third and the fourth end.
United States put four on the board in the fifth, but Japan responded with five in the sixth to retake the lead, 8-6. Eventually, Japan won by 9-8 and secured a place in the semi-finals.
Afterwards, Ogawa Aki said, “I’m so excited, I can’t express it in words. The Americans started with great shots and we struggled to play against them. But then, we just focused on our throws and what we needed to do.”
China versus Latvia
China finished fourth in the overall round-robin rankings and met fifth Latvia, who are the title-defenders. Latvia put a big four on the board in the first end, but the rest of the game was all about China scoring. China eventually won by 8-4 and earned a spot in the semi-finals.
After the game, Wang Meng said, “I’m very happy and excited! I and my teammate didn’t see anything other than the stones in this game. We were fully focused.”
Slovakia versus Italy
Third Slovakia met sixth Italy. Slovakia had an amazing fourth end, they put five on the board and were leading the game by 6-3 at half time.
Italy scored one in the fifth and stole two in the sixth to tie the game, 6-6. Slovakia scored one in the seventh for 7-6. Slovakia were heavy with their last stone of the eighth, and handed Italy the win without them needing to throw their last. Italy 8, Slovakia 7, and with this result, Italy were off to the semi-finals.
Afterwards, Paulo Ioriatti said, “We are the most happy! In this game, I had a problem with my nose, I didn’t feel good physically. But on the ice, all I was thinking about was the game.”
Korea versus Estonia
Hosts Korea finished second on the table and met seventh-placed Estonia. The Estonians held a 3-2 lead after four ends.
An exchange of singles led to a 4-3 Estonian lead after six. In the seventh, Korea scored three with their Power-Play for a 6-4 lead. Korea stole a single in the eighth for a 7-4 final result and a place in the semi-finals.
Afterwards, Cho Minkyong said, “It was a very hard game. My draw was not good at all. It was a very nervous game.”
Her teammate, Jeong Taeyeong added, “Now I feel relaxed. It was such a difficult game.”
Semi-finals
In the semi-finals, Japan met China, while Italy played Korea.
Japan versus China
China were leading the game by 5-1 at half time, due to a steal of one in the second and a score of three in the fourth. In the fifth and sixth end the teams exchanged single scores with Power-Play. China eventually won by 7-2 and qualified for the gold medal game.
After the game, Yang Jinqiao said, “I’m happy that we won the semi-final. I think that we communicated better than Japan today and we played together and we fully focused on the game. We will do our best to win the gold medal.”
Italy versus Korea
Korea stole two in the third and one in the fourth end for a 4-1 lead at half time. In the sixth, with excellent draw play, Korea put five on the board for a 9-2 lead.
Italy scored four in the seventh to reduce their deficit to three points. In the eighth, Korea ran Italy out of stones for a 9-6 win and a place in the gold medal final.
After their win, Korea’s Cho Minkyong said, “I was very nervous during the game, but now I’m very excited for the final!”
Korea will play China in the gold medal game, Italy will meet Japan in the bronze medal game. Both medal games will take place on Saturday 16 March at 10:00.
All times are KST (Korean Standard Time) which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +8 hours.
Click here for the final round-robin standings.
Click here for all the results and the playing schedule.
For information about streaming, click here.
Engage with the World Curling Federation during the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2024 on TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook, and Weibo and by searching the hashtags #WWhMDCC and #wheelchaircurling
