Great Britain must defeat host nation Italy in their final round‑robin match of the mixed doubles curling to secure a place in the semi‑finals, after a heavy loss to China. Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean started well against the unbeaten pair of Wang Meng and Yang Jun, leading 5-3 at the halfway stage, but missed opportunities and a sharp improvement from their opponents saw them lose 10-5, with the eighth end left unplayed.
Butterfield said the shift came as China got a better measure of the draw weight needed to land stones in the scoring house. “Unfortunately, in the second half they really dialled into what draw weight was. They had it very strong and we struggled,” she said. “I was quite nervous in that game. I think it probably was the psychology of playing China. And maybe because we found ourselves in the lead you don’t believe you’re good enough. We have to shake that off and believe that we are.”
Kean added that the pair chose a less cautious approach after the midpoint but struggled with the angles required for bump shots. “In the first half we kept it pretty simple and we had that draw weight,” he said. “And then in the second half we decided to start chasing. So when we have seen them play the bump, we decided we will play the bump back. And we weren’t quite icing right for that.”
The mixed doubles is a new event at the Paralympics this year. Kean and Butterfield will face Italy on Monday afternoon in their final round‑robin match. Meanwhile, Great Britain also lost 5-4 to Canada in the mixed team curling, leaving them sixth in the table after three of nine matches, with the top four advancing to the semi‑finals.
