13 March 2026
Canada and People’s Republic of China to play for gold at Paralympic Winter Games
On Saturday morning, the wheelchair mixed team curling semi-finals were held at the Cortina Olympic Stadium.
Canada met Republic of Korea in one semi-final, while People’s Republic of China played Sweden in the other one.
Team China versus Sweden
Team China started with hammer and scored a single. In the second end, Viljo Petersson Dahl played a take-out on one of the counting Chinese stones, but his shooter rolled out and Sweden gave up a single steal.
In the third, Petersson Dahl played a perfect run-back and Sweden scored three to take the lead, 3-2. In the fourth, Wang Haitao drew to the house for one, 3-3.
After a single score by Sweden in the fifth, Team China put three on the board due to three perfect draws. Team China were leading, 6-4, playing the seventh. In that end, Sweden scored two to tie the game, 6-6.
In the eighth, Petersson Dahl’s run-back attempt didn’t work out, and Team China didn’t need to throw their last to win, 7-6, and qualify for the gold medal game.
This will be Team China’s third consecutive Paralympic final in wheelchair mixed team curling. Sweden won silver medal in 2022 and will now play for bronze.
After their win, Team China’s Zhang Qiang said, “It’s a really exciting moment for me! It’s my first Winter Paralympic journey and we qualified for the final and it means that our efforts in these past four years paid off. We are really excited to play for gold!
“My teammates are a lot more experienced than I am, they help me to adjust myself on the ice, and they told me not to be nervous and to focus on each stone and each end, so they prepared me a lot.”
Team Korea versus Canada
The teams traded two-point scores in the first two ends. In the third, Team Korea stole two when Mark Ideson came up short with his last draw. Canada put one on the board in the fourth, and Team Korea were leading, 4-3, at halftime.
In the fifth, Canada stole a single when Team Korea’s Lee Hyeon Chul came up short with his last stone, 4-4. In the sixth end Lee Hyeon Chul made an unreal around-the-horn shot, removed two Canadian stones and scored three, 7-4.
In the seventh, Canada scored a single to reduce their deficit to two points before the last end, 7-5 to Team Korea.
In the eighth end, Mark Ideson played a perfect hit-and-roll to sit three on the four-foot before Lee Hyeon Chul threw his last. His run-back attempt missed all Canadian counters, Team Korea gave up a steal of three and Canada secured their spot in the gold medal final, 8-7.
This is Canada’s first final since 2014, when they won gold. Team Korea played in the 2018 Paralympic bronze medal game, where they lost against Canada.
After the game, an emotional Mark Ideson, said, “I’m tired! It was a battle. Korea played so well against us and I’m really proud of the way our team hung in there. We had to learn and communicate and keep growing throughout the game to give ourselves a chance in the end. And I’m super proud of the way we never gave up, we just kept going through the game.
“I couldn’t have dreamt it up better. I lost a couple of heartbreakers at the last Paralympics in the semi-final against China. So this one is gonna feel pretty good, we’re ready to go against that team. They’re obviously the best in the world and we’re gonna have to be our best. It’s pretty special!”
The bronze medal game will take place on Friday at 18.05 between Team Korea and Sweden. The gold medal final will be held on Saturday at 15.05 between Team China and Canada.
All times are Central European Time, which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +1.
Follow the live scores from the wheelchair mixed teams at Milano Cortina 2026 here.
Find the full wheelchair curling schedule and results here.
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