On the afternoon of March 11, the semi-finals of wheelchair curling at the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games ended in the "Ice Cube" at the National Aquatics Center. After 8 rounds of fighting, the Chinese team defeated the powerful Canadian team 9-5 and took the lead in advancing to the final. Chinese coach Yue Qingshuang said after the game that the first opponent in the round robin game is the Canadian team, the players are at their "doorstep", but also especially want to win the first victory, the players will play a little tight. "We won eight games in a row in the back games, and I think it was a victory that everyone achieved with a stable mindset."
As a traditional strong team for wheelchair curling, The Canadian team has won three consecutive Winter Paralympic Games in 2006, 2010 and 2014. At the last Pyeongchang Winter Paralympic Games, the Chinese team also defeated the Canadian team in the semi-finals, thus breaking the Monopoly of the Canadian team on wheelchair curling, and in the final, it narrowly defeated the Norwegian team 6-5, won the gold medal in wheelchair curling, and achieved a breakthrough of zero gold medals in the Chinese delegation's Winter Paralympic Games.
In the semi-finals, the Chinese team once again faced the Canadian team. In the first two innings, each team scored 1 point. In the third set, the Canadian team made consecutive mistakes, and the Chinese team scored the first 3 points of the game. In the fourth set, the Chinese team made a mistake in the last shot to give the opponent 2 points. At the end of the first half, the Chinese team led the opponent 4-3.
In the second half, in the fifth game, the Chinese team scored the second 3 points of the game with a wonderful blow, and The score was 7-3 in China. In the sixth inning, Canada's fourth base final hit a mistake and was stolen by 2 points, and the Chinese team led Canada 9-3. In the seventh set, Canada recovered 2 points, and the Chinese team still led 9-5. In the eighth set, the backward Canadian team failed to achieve a reversal, and finally the Chinese team won 9-5 to reach the wheelchair curling final of the Winter Paralympic Games. Captain Wang Haitao said after the game that today the Canadian team had some key pots that shot very well, but overall, our team played much better than them. "Next in the final to play Sweden, I think no matter who you play, don't think too much, or do yourself, the success rate is naturally high."
Yue Qingshuang believes that for this semi-final, the players are still more stable, "I will still tell you before the game, you imagine, is to think about how you won these eight games, with what kind of state and mentality to win." That is, no matter what situation you encounter, you must make your own state, which is also the most important. ”
After winning the semi-finals, Yue Qingshuang and coach Li Jianrui excitedly held up a pair of "treasure shoes" to celebrate the team's victory. According to Yue Qingshuang, this pair of shoes is from Li Jianrui, which is the team's "lucky shoe", because at the Pyeongchang Winter Paralympic Games, he also lifted this pair of precious shoes. Therefore, every time after winning the semi-finals and finals in the competition, I will hold high this pair of "treasure shoes" to cheer for the team.
According to the schedule, the wheelchair curling final will be played at 14:35 on the 12th, and the final opponent of the Chinese team is Sweden, which defeated Slovakia 6-4 in another semi-final.
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhou Xueshuai