GB Wheelchair Curlers Earn First Victory at Winter Paralympics
Great Britain achieved their inaugural win in the wheelchair curling mixed doubles event at the Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina by defeating Latvia 6-5.
Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean had faced challenges in their initial two matches, having been defeated 10-7 by Estonia in their opening game on Wednesday and then losing 14-3 in seven ends to the world number one team South Korea on Thursday morning. A stronger performance was necessary in their second match of the day.
Against Latvia, who had also lost their first two matches, Butterfield and Kean overcame an early setback after the Latvians stole one in the opening end.
Butterfield, who aims to become the first Briton to win gold at both the Winter and Summer Paralympics—having previously won the club throw event at Rio 2016—played a pivotal role with two excellent shots surrounding the break.
Her final stone in the fourth end secured a score of two, giving GB a 5-2 lead going into the interval. Subsequently, her last stone in the fifth end resulted in a steal, extending their advantage to 6-2.
Latvia responded by scoring one in both the sixth and seventh ends. However, with GB holding the last-stone advantage in the final end and Latvia requiring two points to force an extra end, the Latvians managed only one point, allowing Butterfield and Kean to claim victory.
Earlier Match Against South Korea
In the earlier match against South Korea, Butterfield and Kean struggled. The contest began closely, with Hyejin Baek and Yongsuk Lee leading 3-2 in the fourth end before scoring four points with one stone remaining.
Butterfield missed a take-out attempt, and Baek delivered her final stone into the house to secure a five-point score, increasing their lead to 8-2.
GB utilized the powerplay in the fifth end, but South Korea maintained control and stole two points, extending their lead to 10-2.
Although GB scored one point in the sixth end, South Korea dominated the seventh end, adding four more points. The match concluded early, before the scheduled final end.
Upcoming Match
The British pair are scheduled to face the United States on Friday at 08:05 GMT in their fourth round-robin game out of seven. The American team had won two of their three matches prior to the Games' opening ceremony, which is set for 19:00 in Verona.
