As the first team of the Chinese delegation to appear at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese curling presents surprises for everyone on the second day of the Chinese New Year! In the curling mixed doubles competition that started first last night, the Chinese curling mixed doubles player Fan Suyuan/Ling Zhi, who participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, played extremely well, and through the overtime, finally won the silver medalist of the last Winter Olympics, the Swiss combination Pere /Rios, and won the opening red! The two grew more courageous, winning two straight against Australia 6-5 in this morning's match.
Fan Suyuan/Ling Zhi's opponent last night, the Swiss duo of Pere/Rios, is very strong, they won the silver medal in the mixed doubles competition at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 4 years ago, and they have a lot of experience in the competition, which is precisely the weakness of the Chinese combination. Affected by the epidemic, since January 2020, the Chinese curling team has almost no opportunity to train and compete abroad, and only organized 6 in-team selection competitions in November last year by the Winter Games Center. Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan, who were not optimistic before the game, stood out in the fierce competition with the other 4 pairs of teammates and qualified to represent China in the mixed doubles competition of the Winter Olympics.
In last night's game, facing the powerful Swiss team, Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan played steadily, taking 1 point each in the first three sets of the game, and more valuablely, when there was a mistake after that, the mentality was also very stable, pulling back the situation, and finally in the overtime with the last throw, they beat the opponent 7-6.
In this morning's match, Fan Suyuan/Ling Zhi played against the Australian duo of Gil/Hewitt to win two consecutive games 6-5. It is worth mentioning that the Chinese combination has a one-day double match today, and they will also face sweden at 8:05 tonight.
Fan Suyuan/Ling Zhi:
The ultimate goal is to stand on the podium
Q: Please rate the whole performance of the two of you tonight.
Ling Zhi: We have good performances and mistakes, and the most important thing is that our self-mentality and state on the spot are adjusted very quickly. After the mistakes, we were not impatient, encouraged each other, and finally used the failed line to hit the most wonderful throw, the process and the result made us very happy.
Q: Today the opponent grabbed 3 points in the sixth inning, what is the reason for this?
Ling Zhi: This round did lose more points, mainly because I said two words less when communicating with Fan Suyuan, which led to a deviation in her throwing line. In fact, it is less than 3 centimeters out of the deviation, but it did not reach the target, which is a pity. Fortunately, the two of us quickly forgot about this mistake and did not let it affect our later play.
Q: Were you surprised by the result when you grabbed a point in the second set with a first hand?
Fan Suyuan: In fact, it is not too surprising, because our tactic is to focus on playing our own good ball, putting pressure on the opponent, and then waiting for the opponent to make a mistake, and this is how the first 1 point in the second set is obtained.
Q: In the last two crucial innings, head coach Tommy deliberately went down to communicate with you, what did he say?
Ling Zhi: He first asked me what we thought, and then he thought that our ideas were very good, so let us strengthen our confidence and implement our own ideas. Indeed, the eighth and ninth innings were very glued, and the coaches of both teams were adjusting their tactics on the spot, and we have been playing more steadily today, because we have made psychological and tactical preparations for playing overtime before the game, and this situation we have repeatedly simulated training in our usual training, so the mentality during the overtime is very good.
Q: What do you think of the Ice Cube after the water ice conversion?
Fan Suyuan: It was better than we expected, and we thought we might have to adapt to it before the game, but at the beginning of the game, we felt that the hand style was very smooth, and the arc we envisioned was basically reflected.
Q: The Swiss pair won the silver medal at the last Winter Olympics, did you have any special preparations for them before the game?
Ling Zhi: This pair of Swiss players is really strong, and we did a lot of homework before the game, fully understanding and studying their technical and tactical characteristics, including their personalities and playing styles, which are used today. For them, we are unknown players, we are in the dark, they are in the light, which may be an advantage for us. I have been working with Fan Suyuan for less than 3 months, and today we are holding the mentality of impacting the opponent, without any baggage, which is one of the reasons why we can win in the overtime.
Q: The two sides staged a tug-of-war in the first 8 innings today, were you nervous at that time?
Ling Zhi: I was a little nervous, but it was much better after I actually got into the game. Especially after an unexpected mistake that leads to a loss of points, we are required to focus more on the game. The charm of curling is here, when everyone makes a mistake, then it depends on who can seize the opportunity.
Q: What are your goals for the Beijing Winter Olympics?
Fan Suyuan: Of course, it is a field fight. Tomorrow we have two more games and we will start from scratch. But overall, our ultimate goal is to stand on the podium, preferably to hear the national anthem play and let the flag fly.
A tug-of-war with an unexpected process and an ending
In last night's 4 curling mixed doubles matches, the Sino-Swiss battle was the only one to hit the extra round, both the process and the result were somewhat unexpected.
One of the surprises is that the Chinese team scored 3 consecutive points in the opening game
Switzerland, the silver medallist in the mixed doubles at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, was very strong, but they didn't win a single set in the first three sets of last night's game, including the second set of the backhand. As the last runner-up, the Swiss team's start to the game was somewhat surprising.
The Chinese team, composed of Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan, developed a strategy of playing steadily, with both backhands scoring 1 point and taking 1 point in the first hand, which made the two men feel angry and confident. "We had a detailed study and analysis of the Swiss masters before the game, and the strategy of today's game is to play steadily and seize the opportunity." Ling Zhi revealed after the game.
The Chinese team's move worked very well, and the Swiss team was a bit anxious. However, after all, it is the world's strongest team, and the Swiss combination finally seized an opportunity to score 2 consecutive points in the fourth set, although it was still 1 point behind the Chinese team, but it finally stabilized the situation. At this time, Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan's mentality is still very stable, and they have scored another point in the fifth set, still holding the lead in their own hands.
Accident 2 There was no panic under major mistakes
Unexpectedly appeared in the sixth set, in the final throw of this set, Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan had a major communication error, causing the latter's curling to deviate from the target, and the Swiss team scored 3 points in one fell swoop to win the score 5-4.
Will the situation be reversed? This is really difficult to say, after all, people are the runners-up of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and the Chinese team has rarely had the opportunity to go out to participate in international competitions since the beginning of 2020 due to the epidemic, and what is missing is the experience of the competition. But Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan stood up! They did not panic or chaos, but still followed the strategy of the first 3 innings, scored 2 points steadily, and then led 6-5. In the eighth inning, the Swiss team used the backhand to score a point, and the two sides drew 6-6 in the 8th round of the regular season, which was also greater than many people expected before the game.
Even more surprising than entering the extra round is that Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan, who participated in the Winter Olympics for the first time, had a stable mentality when they made a major mistake, did not fall into chagrin, but quickly turned their attention to the next game, which was even praised by their opponents: "The Chinese team is not like participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time, their adaptability is excellent." ”
The third accident is not afraid to take the wrong line again
In the extra round, the Chinese team won a valuable backhand advantage, when both sides were in better form. With one pot left, the Chinese team had two curling curlers in the camp closer to the center of the circle, and victory was in sight.
But the Swiss team also fought, and the last curling actually stepped out of a wonderful arc, bypassed the obstacle pot laid by the Chinese team in front of the camp, and spun into the center of the camp, closer to the center of the circle than the two pots of the Chinese team. If the Chinese team's last blow cannot clear the opponent's pot, it will be defeated.
Under pressure, Fan Suyuan threw the pot under the command of Ling Zhi and accurately hit the Curling of the Swiss team. Although her two pots were also touched, the curling pot she threw remained in the camp! The Chinese team eventually won 7-6. What's more, the curling position is the line that led to the Swiss team scoring 3 points in one fell swoop because of a communication error in the sixth inning, "The most exciting thing for both of us is that we used this blow to make up for the mistake just now!" Ling Zhi said after the game.
Curling lessons
How curling matches are scored
Curling competitions have three scoring principles: after the curling of a game is completed, whoever is closest to the center of the base camp is the scorer of the game; the score of the losing team in a game is always zero points, and when there is not a single pot in the base camp, it is considered a draw between the two teams, and the score is 0-0; the winning team has multiple curling teams and when all the pots of the losing team are close to the center of the camp, these curling teams are counted as the winning team's score.
Tech desk
Source Beijing Evening News
Reporter Li Ge
Photo by Deng Wei
Process Editor Wu Yue