Canada’s Rachel Homan and John Morris defeated the United States 7-2 to improve the Beijing 2022 mixed doubles curling campaign to 4-2 on Saturday.
The Ottawa duo stole a single from the duo of Vicky Persinger and Christopher Plys in the fifth and sixth ends before claiming a major three-point seventh end to bring the round robin match to an early end at the National Aquatics Centre.
It was Canada’s biggest mixed doubles curling win in Beijing so far and a crucial one since both sides entered the ice with identical 3-2 records.
Unbeaten Italy remains at the top of the 10-team standings with a 6-0 record. Sweden (5-2) and Great Britain (4-2) are also ahead of Canada (4-2), which sits at the final semifinal classification spot at fourth.
The U.S. (3-3), Norway (3-3) are currently on the outside looking in, with China (2-4), the Czech Republic (2-4), Switzerland (2-4) and Australia (0-7) further behind.
They needed it, they got it ✅<br><br>Rachel Homan and John Morris with a dominant performance in the seventh end to beat the USA 7-2 <br><br>The Canadian mixed doubles team moves to 4-2 and sits in fourth in the standings 🇨🇦 <a href=”https://t.co/frQUxho2r4″>pic.twitter.com/frQUxho2r4</a>
—@CBCOlympics
Canada will face Czech Republic and Australia on Sunday, at next at 1 a.m. ET and 7 a.m. ET, respectively. You can watch both matches on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
Homan and Morris duo started their Beijing 2022 campaign with a 6-4 loss to world champions Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds of Great Britain on Thursday.
Canada bounced back to collect three straight victories over Norway (7-6), Switzerland (7-5) and China (8-6) before seeing the win streak snapped in a 8-2 defeat to Sweden.
Canadians heat up
The U.S. started the game with the hammer and got on the board with a single. Homan then handed Canada a 1-1 tie with the last rock in the second end.
Having the hammer continued to be the decider in the next couple of ends.
The American duo pushed two Canada rocks off the board to collect a single and get back on the lead in the third before another clutch shot by Homan made it 2-2 in the fourth end.
Homan and Norris had another major end in the sixth when the U.S. used their power play, but Canada notched another steal to double their lead to 4-2.
It was game over after the Ottawa duo captured a major three-point seventh end to make it 7-2 with their powerplay still in their pocket.
It’s the second time mixed doubles curling is part of the Olympics. Canada claimed the inaugural gold medal in PyeongChang 2018 when Morris teamed up with Kailtyn Lawes of Winnipeg.
WATCH l Homan and Morris’ Olympic appointment is ‘what every curler dreams of’:
Rachel Homan and John Morris join That Curling Show fresh off the news they have been chosen to represent Canada in mixed doubles curling at the Beijing Olympics. 12:38
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