Mixed Doubles semi-finalists ready for curling conclusion at YOG 2016

Lillehammer, Norway
Saturday 20 February 2016

The semi-finalists for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Mixed Doubles curling are now known, following the last-16 games and quarter-finals today (Saturday 20 February 2016).

Of the Mixed team medalists Tyler Tardi of Canada, who won Gold, and Philipp Hoesli of Switzerland, who won Bronze, still have hopes of a second medal at the Games. From the hosts, Andreas Haarstad progresses to the semi-finals with Chinese partner Ruiyi Zhao.

China and Japan have the highest representation, in the penultimate round, with two athletes each. From China Zhao and Yu Han are into the semi-finals, while Honoka Sasaki and Yako Matsuzawa, who are partners with Tardi and Hoesli respectively, will represent Japan. Great Britain’s Ross Whyte, who is paired with China’s Han, completes the group of semi-finalist athletes.

Tomorrow’s semi-finals will see China/Norway play Japan/Switzerland and Japan/Canada play China/Great Britain at 09.00. The Gold and Bronze medal games will follow at 13.00. Both times are Central European Time.

For all scores, standings, quotes and pictures from YOG 2016  visit, www.worldcurling.org/yog2016

This evening, with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach amongst the audience, three of the four games were very close and came down to the last stone. Meanwhile, Japan/Switzerland progressed comfortably with an 11-1 victory over New Zealand/Canada pair Sterling Middleton and Holly Thompson.

In the seventh end between China/Norway and the Italy and Great Britain pair, Martina Ghezze and Callum Kinnear, the score was tied 9-9. However, with the last stone Zhao and Haarstad were able to score the single point needed to win the game.

Similarly, in Japan/Canada’s game the scores were level 5-5 after seven ends. Tardi and Sasaki, however were able to score two points and take a 7-5 win, against Norway’s Maia Ramsfjell and Korea’s Hogeon Kim.

In China/Great Britain’s game the last stone of the match was the cause of great tense to the athletes and supporters alike. Whyte and Zhao had a two-point lead, but their opponent’s, Switzerland’s Selina Whitschonke and Estonia’s Jarl Gustsin had a chance to play a takeout and score two or three points, with the last stone. The shot was unsuccessful and the Switzerland/Estonia pair were only able to score one point, handing the victory to China/Great Britain, 6-5.

The last-16 play-offs for the Mixed Doubles curling took place earlier today, with the afternoon session drawing in a full house of supporters.

They Said It:

Yako Matsuzawa; Team JPN|SUI (after 11-1 win over NZL|CAN): "I was really nervous in the beginning, but in the first end we scored four points, so it calmed me down. Being in the semi-final is a very good feeling, and we will try to make an effort to go further."

Tyler Tardi; Team JPN|CAN (after 7-5 win over NOR|KOR): "It's unbelievable, I'm on cloud number nine right now. In the game we were staying very loose and we were just having fun. It's a good goal I think to try to enjoy yourself and the result will come from that. I learned some Japanese from Honoka, like 'konichiwa' and 'arigato' and that's about it."

Andreas Haarstad; Team CHN|NOR (after 10-9 win over ITA|GBR): "Qualifying to the semi-final, it's just incredible. Right now I can't believe it, it's so big and it's been a goal for me for a long time, and finally I'm there. I didn't really expect it, because I didn't know how we are going to play together, but we play well together. Even though we don't communicate in English, we still have some good communication and understanding. I learned 'ni hao', it means 'hello' I think, I'm not sure. Right now we just need to take one game at a time, and hopefully we'll play a good semi-final match and maybe get into the final."

Yu Han; Team CHN|GBR (after 6-5 win over SUI|EST): "I thought that if we can make the quarter-finals, it would have been already a good result. We did some good sweeping and some nice draws, and we had a bit of luck as well. I'm very confident right now, but whether it's a win or a loss, the most important thing is to enjoy the game."