Winter Olympics 2022 - USA leapfrog GB in women's curling standings after beating South Korea as Canada gain crucial win

Published 14/02/2022 at 05:07 GMT

There was plenty of movement in the women’s round robin curling standings on Monday morning as six teams were in action at the National Aquatics Centre. USA, Japan and Canada all improved their chances of winning a medal, whilst South Korea, China and the Russian Olympic Committee all face an early exit.

BEIJING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 14: Tabitha Peterson of Team United States competes during the Women’s Curling Round Robin Session against Team Korea on Day 10 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at National Aquatics Centre on February 14, 2022 in Beijing,

Image credit: Eurosport

USA leapfrogged Team GB - who dropped to fourth with a game in hand - and moved up to third place in the women's curling standings with their fourth win from six, beating South Korea 8-6 in a tightly contested match.

After a pointless opening end, South Korea took a 1-0 lead in the second, the first of four consecutive one-point ends that were shared back and forth between the teams, going into the break at 2-2.

USA came out of the blocks impressively in the sixth end and posted three points on the board to take the lead which proved to be a decisive end, as South Korea failed to catch them and Team USA eventually saw the game out 8-5.

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Japan were victorious in their match against China, beating the Olympic host’s 10-2 to further strengthen their chances of progressing to the semi-finals.

China took the lead after the second end after a pointless opener, stealing a point before Japan steamrolled their way through the next three ends. They won 3-0, 1-0, and 3-0 in ends three, four and five respectively to take a 7-1 advantage at the halfway stage.

The host’s managed to get one point back in the sixth end, but after a Japanese double in the seventh to make it 9-2 and all but put the game to bed, with another point stolen in the 8th end the final nail in the coffin for China who threw the towel in.

Canada recorded a crucial result against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to keep their medal hopes alive. They progressed to seventh in the round robin standings after their second win of the Games.

After an impressive start delivering back-to-back 2-0 wins in the opening ends, ROC grabbed a point back in the third. Canada managed their third 2-0 end in the fourth, before ROC replied with a 2-0 win of their own, meaning the score was 6-2 going into the break.

Canada notched further ahead with another 2-0 in the sixth, before ROC once again replied with the same scoreline as they refused to give up the fight. However, Canada had the game wrapped up in the eighth and ninth before ROC conceded the final end, with the score at 11-5.

That loss for ROC means they’re still without a win, sitting bottom of the pack with five losses from five.

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