HARBIN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China kept the perfect record by taking its third straight victory over the Philippines 9-6, while Japan also won three games in a row in the curling mixed doubles Group A at the Asian Winter Games here on Wednesday.
China's Han Yu and Wang Zhiyu beat the Kyrgyzstan pair in the morning. In the first two ends, each team scored one point. In the subsequent two ends, China scored two points and then stole another two. Kyrgyzstan managed to claw back two points in the fifth end, but the Chinese team did not allow them to narrow the gap further, ultimately winning 8-3.
In the second game, China quickly established a comfortable 8-0 lead over the Philippines marching into the second half.
After the Philippines won the fifth and seventh ends to reduce the gap to three points, Wang remained composed by hitting a perfect double takeout before the Filipinos conceded the defeat.
The victory for China triggered rounds of applause from the audience after curlers lifted their brushes into the air.
"They are a strong team, we've prepared a lot for the game as we have accumulated some experiences from our first two games. Our performance was not bad," said Han
After winning over Thailand and Mongolia, Japan also recorded its third victory on Wednesday by beating Hong Kong, China 9-3.
South Korea who lost to the Philippines on Monday, did not give its opponents any chances by rolling past Kazakhstan 12-0 and Qatar 14-1.
In another match of the day, Chinese Taipei also triumphed twice, beating Kuwait 13-3 and winning over Mongolia 8-4.
The Philippines, who was considered to be a dark horse, had its surprising performances with three straight victories until its first loss to China.
With their curling team only set up in 2023, the Filipinos have dispatched 20 athletes to the Games, half of them are curlers.
On the last day of round-robin, the trio of China, Japan and South Korea will all play twice, including a showdown between China and South Korea. ■
