The Chinese men's curling team defeated Denmark 5:4 to win the first winter Olympics

Beijing, February 11 (China News Network) -- In the third round of the men's curling round robin tournament at the Beijing Winter Olympics on the morning of february 11, the Chinese men's curling team composed of Xu Jingtao, Wang Zhiyu, Zou Qiang and Ma Xiuyue defeated the Danish team 5:4 to win the first victory at the Beijing Winter Olympics. At present, the Chinese team has a record of one win and two losses, and is tied for seventh place with the Russian Olympic Committee team.

Data chart: The picture shows the Chinese player Ma Xiuyue throwing the pot. Photo by China News Service reporter Li Jun

In the first two rounds of matches, the Chinese team suffered two consecutive defeats in the round robin tournament. In the first round of the evening of the 9th, the Chinese men's curling team lost to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic runner-up Sweden team 4:6; in the second round of the afternoon of the 10th, the Chinese men's curling team lost to the Russian Olympic Committee team 4:7.

After the game on the morning of the 11th, captain Ma Xiuyue said in an interview that the first two games, especially the last game, were lost unfortunately, leading in the first few rounds, and losing a big point in the ninth inning, resulting in the loss of the whole game. "We'll wrap up when we get back, don't be in a hurry when we're ahead, stay steady, play some simple balls, and try to get to the tenth inning before deciding the winner."

In this round, the two sides came and went in the first four sets, and the battle was a 2:2 draw. In the fifth set, the Chinese backhand made a successful last point and scored two points to lead 4:2. In the second half, the Chinese team played basically stable, winning 5:4 against Denmark.

The Danish men's curling team has competed in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Curling Qualifiers to win the men's curling spot at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The current record is two losses, ranking ninth.

Ma Xiuyue said that for this game, they implemented the tactics they had formulated before to the end, "It is also the front lead, we are playing little by little, there is no hurry, so the effect is not bad." Wang Zhiyu also said in an interview that our tactics in the first two games were biased towards attack, and today we adjusted our tactics, played more conservatively, and had better control of the game, "In the tenth set, we were backhands and still took the lead."

Referring to the feelings after winning, Ma Xiuyue said that when playing a good ball and winning the game, the audience cheered, which was a particularly good feeling. Wang Zhiyu said that after winning this game, the mood is more joyful and more confident, which will help the next game.

On the afternoon of the 12th, the Chinese men's curling team will face the Italian team. Ma Xiuyue said that we should sum up the lessons learned from the wins and losses of these three games and make adjustments for the next game. (End)