Lillehammer, Norway
Saturday 14 February 2016

Japan beat China in the ninth session of Mixed curling at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway this evening (14 February).

At the end of the fifth end the teams were tied 3-3, but the Japanese managed two points in each of the remaining two ends to win 7-3.

Meanwhile, Russia, Switzerland and USA are now all tied at the top of Group A, with four wins and one loss each. Switzerland beat Russia, who were previously the only unbeaten team in the group, 7-5.

USA defeated New Zealand 10-3 during this session, while the remaining draw was won by Turkey, who beat Italy 9-5. That was a hard fought game that saw the lead change hands a number of times.

In the final session of the day, Great Britain posted their second win on day three. They beat Sweden, 8-2, to move into second place in the Group B standings, behind Canada who remain undefeated.

Korea also won two games, beating Brazil 12-1 in the evening. The game started well with the Koreans scoring five points in the first end and then two points in the second and third ends.

Canada’s game against Norway was the tightest game of the session. It was a game that took four ends before a point was scored, with Norway going in 1-0 up at the fourth end break. By the eighth end it was 2-2 and an extra end ensued. However, Canada secured the victory, scoring two points in the final end.

Czech Republic bounced back from an earlier defeat to beat Estonia, 8-4.

They Said It:

Kota Ito; Japan skip (after 7-3 win over China): “The atmosphere in the team is improving and each shot from the athletes [in this game] was good, therefore I feel good. We tried to steal first and change the rhythm of China’s game in order to win.”

Ross Whyte; Great Britain skip (after 8-2 win over Sweden): “We’re really happy and we’ve hopefully booked our place in the quarter-finals. We need to win our next two games before we think about that. We [GB] got a Gold medal today, so the camp is buzzing and that keeps us all going.”

GROUP A RESULTS, Session 9:

China 3-7 Japan; New Zealand 3-10 USA; Russia 5-7 Switzerland; Turkey 9-5 Italy

GROUP B RESULTS, Session 10:

Korea 12-1 Brazil; Norway 2-4 Canada; Sweden 2-8 Great Britain; Estonia 4-8 Czech Republic

GROUP A STANDINGS after Session 9 (W - L):

Russia 4-1
Switzerland 4-1
USA 4-1
Italy 3-2
Turkey 3-2
China 1-4
Japan 1-4
New Zealand 0-5

GROUP B STANDINGS after Session 10 (W - L):

Canada 5-0
Great Britain 4-1
Korea 3-2
Sweden 3-2
Czech Republic 2-3
Norway 2-3
Estonia 1-4
Brazil 0-5