Australia 10, Canada 8 (Session 12)
In the upset of the tournament so far, Australia finished its Olympics with a 10-8 9-end win over Canada Sunday night.
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Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt were playing against their former coach and mentor John Morris, who plays for Canada and is the defending Olympic gold medalist in mixed doubles.
Gill and Hewitt took it to their coach early, scoring three points in the first end, and stealing two more in the second for a commanding early lead.
The struggles for Canada continued in the third. After opting to use their power play early, Rachel Homan missed on a takeout attempt on her hammer throw, allowing Australia to steal another point and extend their lead over their former coach, 7-0.
The Canadians started their comeback in the fifth, clearing the house and landing the hammer for a 4-point end that cut Australia’s lead to three.
Canada scored three more in the seventh and stole one more in the eighth to force an extra end with the score tied 8-8.
In the final end, it was another Canadian mistake that gave Australia the win. Homan threw heavy on her last stone, sending it through the house to end her team’s comeback attempt.
Sunday was the final game of the Olympics for Australia (2-7), as the team was already eliminated from semifinal contention.
Canada (5-3) will finish their round robin play on Sunday at 8:05 p.m. ET against Italy. Canada is tied with Great Britain and Norway for second in the overall standings, with the top four teams moving on the semifinals.
Norway 6, Great Britain 2 (Session 12)
Norway kept their mixed doubles semifinal hopes alive with a 6-2 conceded win over Great Britain Sunday in the penultimate session of play.
Norway’s Kristin Skaslien glided her hammer throw into the 4-foot for two in the seventh to put her team up 6-2 going into the eighth end.
Neither team had scored more than one either in any end up to that point.
Skaslien again had a takeout on the second to last stone to take out Great Britain’s only scoring chance, forcing GBR to concede the final stone and the game.
Norway (5-3) will finish round robin play on Sunday at 8:05 p.m. ET against Switzerland as they remain in the hunt for the final semifinal spot. The team is tied with Canada and Great Britain for second in the overall standings.
Great Britain (5-3) will also finish their early round of play at the same time against Team USA.
Australia 9, Switzerland 6 (Session 11)
A game that went back-and-fourth three times saw Australia come out on top in the end, 9-6, over Switzerland.
It was the first-ever Olympic curling win for a team from Australia, and came just a few hours after the duo of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt thought they had to forfeit their final two games due to a positive COVID-19 test by Gill.
Instead, Australia was able to play and scored six points in the final three ends, including a steal of two in the seventh and one in the eighth for the eventual win.
Switzerland stole three in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead at the break. After Gill’s hammer throw for Australia clipped the guard and was redirected, Switzerland was again able to steal two points in the fifth.
Gill made up for the mistake in the sixth, playing a perfect double takeout for three points to tie the score, 6-6.
Switzerland’s draw shot in the seventh went too hard, allowing Australia to steal two more points and break the tie heading into the final frame.
Mathematically eliminated from the semifinals, Australia (1-7) will finish their Olympic games at 7:05 a.m. ET Sunday against Canada.
Switzerland (2-5), also eliminated from the next round, will also play at 7:05 a.m. against the United States.
SEE MORE: Italy mixed curling team beats Sweden, remains undefeated
Italy 12, Sweden 8 (Session 12)
Italy continued its Cinderella run through the mixed doubles curling tournament with a 12-8 win over Sweden to remain unbeaten in round robin play.
Sunday’s game was all about the big ends for both teams. Down 3-2 at the halfway break in the fifth, Sweden’s Almida De Val had a perfect takeout shot to put three on the board and retake the lead for her team.
But Italy responded with their biggest end of the Games, sending through a perfect takeout for five points and their first lead of the day, 8-5.
Sweden again tied the score with a perfect hit-and-roll that scored three points as both teams looked to the final end of the game.
The final end was all Italy, who were able to again put up a big number, four, to break the tie and come away with the win.
Sunday was the final game of round robin play for Sweden (5-4). After coming into the game firmly in position for a semifinals spot, they’ll now have to wait and watch the scoreboard during the final session on Sunday night to see if they can sneak in to the next round.
Italy (8-0) will finish their early round of play on Sunday at 8:05 p.m. ET against Canada.
Norway 6, Sweden 2 (Session 11)
Norway kept their semifinal hopes alive with a 6-2 win over Sweden in Session 11 Sunday.
After scoring two in the first, Norway carried that to a 3-2 lead after four ends.
Sweden had an opportunity for a big end in the sixth, but Almida De Val’s hammer throw over-curled and missed the intended takeout rock, allowing Norway to steal another point and go up three with two ends to play.
Norway stole a point again in the seventh. De Val finished the game with a double takeout on Norway’s second to last throw to leave Sweden unable to win, forcing De Val and teammate Oskar Eriksson to concede their final stone for the loss.
Sweden (5-3) will finish round robin play at 7:05 a.m. ET Sunday against Italy.
Norway (4-3) will also play at 7:05 a.m. against Great Britain.
Italy 8, China 4 (Session 11)
Italy came into Sunday’s game as the only team to have already clinched a spot in the Olympic semifinals, and they continued to separate themselves from the pack with an 8-4 win over China in Session 11.
The duo of Stefania Constantini and Amos Monsaner lied four stones in the first, and China was only able to clear one on their hammer throw, giving Italy a 3-point steal to start the game.
The Italians stole another point in the second and led 5-1 at the halfway point.
Italy scored one more point in the sixth and stole a single point in each of the seventh and eighth ends for the 4-point win.
Italy (7-0) will return to play at 7:05 a.m. ET to take on Sweden.
China (2-6) will play its final game of round robin play against the Czech Republic at 8:05 p.m. ET Sunday. China has been eliminated from semifinal contention.
Canada 6, Czech Republic 5 (Session 11)
It took an extra end and a comeback, but in the end Canada was able to steal a 6-5 win over the Czech Republic Sunday.
In the seventh, with two Czech stones far apart in the house, Canada opted to just take one out and allow their opponents to steal a single point so they could maintain hammer in the eighth. The Canadians trailed 5-3 going into the final end.
The risk paid off. Canada scored two points in the eighth to force an extra end, and Canada’s Rachel Homan played a perfect throw onto the button behind several guards that was too blocked for the Czechs to move on their hammer throw, giving Canada the steal of one in the ninth for the win.
Both teams traded single points early and were tied 2-2 at the halfway point.
The Czech Republic played its power play in the sixth and capitalized with two points to take a 4-3 lead with two ends remaining.
Canada (5-2), now sitting second in the mixed doubles standings, will return to the ice at 7:05 a.m. ET against Australia.
The Czech Republic (3-5) will finish their Olympic round robin play at 8:05 p.m. ET Sunday against China. The Czechs have been eliminated from semifinal contention with the loss.