Sweden tops China in the world final rematch
Day two of the round-robin games at the Winter Paralympics continued with just two matches in session three. In these matches, Norway defeated Slovakia and Sweden beat China in a rematch for the World Cup gold medal game.
Slovakia against Norway
The Norwegians started the match with a single point, followed by a steal of two in the third and a steal of one in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.
In the fifth end, Slovakia’s fourth pitcher, Peter Zatko made a perfect runback for three points to correct the gap, 4-3.
But in the sixth end, after Zatko went through the house on his last draw, Norway had a chance of three points to take a big 7-3 jump in the match.
With two more thefts in the seventh, Slovakia shook hands, 9-3, which gave Norway its second victory in the competition.
Ole Fredrik Syversen, Norway’s third, said, “We had a good start, we felt the ice better than yesterday, we have better feelings and we believe in ourselves and we did what we wanted to do.”
Commenting on the hill by Skovakia, he said, “At the fifth end, they got three, and we tried to make a shot so they could not make the hill, but he had the hill and he made it.”
“We took a very strong finish back in the seventh end with three, and I think it was the match, so we are very happy. We have a good strong team and good motivation in the team.”
China against Sweden
In a rematch of the World Cup final, the hosts played China against Sweden. The Swedes missed the first end and were forced to a single in the second.
They took a commanding 4-0 lead after China’s jumper Wang Haitao was heavy on his last draw and slipped past two Swedish stones to steal two points.
With another well-played end to Sweden in the sixth, China faced a challenging raise where they just missed and gave up another steal for a 5-0 point.
The Chinese collected their stones in the four-legged ring throughout the seventh finish, hoping for a Swedish miss that allows a big point, but with a perfect freeze by third Ronny Persson, this would be a challenge. China made a freeze on the right back, but this meant they could only score one point to make it 5-1.
In the eighth end, Sweden ran the stones on China to win, 5-1.
“It feels very good today!” said Sweden’s management, Kristina Ulander. “We did a great job and stayed focused on all the rocks.”
At the seventh end, she shared: “We felt very safe. We think they could only take one of two, so we felt very safe.”
Results of session three: Slovakia 3-9 Norway; China 1-5 Sweden
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