Great Britain taken to the wire by Australia in nail-biting curling match
Mixed curling medal hopefuls Team GB come out on top 9-8 in round robin match after a stunning fightback from 6-1 down by Olympic debutants Australia.
It took an extra end for Beijing 2022 mixed curling medal hopefuls Great Britain to win by a scoreline of 9-8 against Olympic debutants Australia on Friday (4 February). Having raced ahead to a 6-1 lead by the halfway stage of the eight-end match, Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat were looking comfortable.
However, with the green and gold pairing of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt chasing their first ever Olympic curling win, the lure of beating their great sporting rivals proved strong. The duo made up the difference in the next two ends to leave it 6-6. With both teams taking two-stone wins by the eighth and final end, extra time was called.
Coming down to one single shot, a no doubt adrenaline-fuelled overthrow from Gill meant that GB's stone won the match without Dodds having to take a final throw.
The Brits were pleased with their form heading into the final few days of round robin matches with the semi-finals taking place on Monday (7 February).
"In mixed doubles you never give up," said Dodds afterwards. "I'm really proud how we played those ends, especially the first four ends are how we usually play, and straightaway we were like, we're back."
Power players
The Australians are yet to win a match at this, their debut Games, but have come agonsingly close in four of their five games so far, losing by just one point.
Earlier today, they were pipped 7-6 by Sweden, the 2021 mixed team World Championship bronze medallists.
Oskar Eriksson, the men's curling bronze medallist from Sochi 2014 and silver medallist from PyeongChang 2018, took the win with partner and Olympic newbie Almida de Val but it was a close run thing after the Aussies invoked the power play to put themselves in contention.
Gill and Hewitt have four more chances to register their first ever Olympic win and will be buoyed by their performances so far.
The 2021 mixed curling world champions, Dodds and Mouat, play the Czech Republic and the only unbeaten side so far, Italy, in tomorrow's matches.
Australia’s curling mixed doubles schedule on Saturday (5 February)
All times below are in China Standard Time (UTC+8). Schedule details are subject to change at short notice.
09.05 Mixed Doubles Round Robin Session 7 – Australia vs Norway
14:05 Mixed Doubles Round Robin Session 8 – Australia vs Italy