Every single one of the four games Wednesday night had scores of 4-3, and each one stayed just as close through, with the U.S., Korea, Japan and Team OAR all coming away with Night 2 victories.
United States 7, Great Britain 4
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If the U.S. women were going to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Japan, they would have to go through a juggernaut to do it.
Team USA’s team, led by Skip Nina Roth, took on medal favorites Great Britain, skipped by Eve Muirhead who was on the Britain team that won bronze in Sochi in 2014.
It took some risks, but in the end the U.S. was able to put points on the board when they needed to to come away with a 7-4 victory.
Britain was able to score the first point with a takeout by Muirhead on the hammer in the first end. After a blanked second, the U.S. responded in the third when Nina Roth’s hammer throw landed on a wide-open button to score two for the Americans and take their first lead of the tournament.
Muirhead’s team didn’t stay down for long though, scoring two of their own in the fourth.
The U.S. had a chance to tie the score just before the fifth end break. Neither team had a stone in the house, but instead of taking the single point, Roth opted to throw through the house in order to maintain the hammer in the sixth end.
The risk paid off, as Roth was able to land her hammer throw in the sixth just on the back edge of the house for two points and the regained lead, 4-3, allowing Roth to let out a big sigh of relief on the ice.
Muirhead had another takeout in the eighth to tie the score at 4-4, and had a chance at the lead in the ninth after a double takeout by the skip. Roth responded though by getting a takeout of her own for a point and the U.S. lead heading into the final end.
The U.S. had two stones just on the outside of the button with Britain’s hammer throw coming, but Muirhead’s throw went wide of the button and through the house to give Roth’s team the win.
Muirhead's team scored just one point over the final six ends.
The U.S. secures their first victory in PyeongChang after falling to Japan Tuesday night. They improve to 1-1 overall. Britain falls to 1-1 with eight games remaining.
USA 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 - 7
GBR 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 4
Other scores:
Japan 8, Denmark 5
After Japan jumped out to a 3-0 lead, Denmark tried to make a game of it, scoring three in the fourth end. But the Japanese team, skipped by Satsuki Fujisawa, went out to outscore the Dutch 5-2 over the final four ends to come away with an 8-5 victory in nine ends.
Japan scored three points in the seventh, and two in each of the second and eighth.
Denmark’s only big end was the fourth, when Madeleine Dupont’s throw had a ricochet takeout for three points. However, they scored just single points in the sixth and ninth ends the rest of the way.
Japan improves to 2-0 in the tournament, joining Sweden and Korea as the only unbeaten teams left. Sweden did not play Wednesday night. Denmark falls to 0-2.
DEN 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 X – 5
JPN 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 X – 8
Korea 8, Canada 6
Korea delighted their home fans in their first game of the PyeongChang Games with a huge 8-6 win over No. 1 ranked Canada.
Korea, an automatic qualifier into the Games, proved they could be a team to be reckoned with against the defending Gold Medalists and World Champions. They held Canada to just one point in the first five ends, while taking a 4-1 lead into the break as the home fans cheered throughout the Gangneung Curling Centre.
Canada didn’t let up, scoring two in the sixth and stealing another in the seventh. But after Korea settled for just one point in the eighth, they put the game away for good in the ninth, with Canada missing a takeout, giving Korea three stolen points and an 8-4 lead Canada wouldn’t overcome.
Canada had a chance at three in the 10th, but Kim came away with a takeout on Korea’s final throw to hold Canada to just two.
Canada now falls to 0-1 with eight games remaining. Korea opens to tournament 1-0.
CAN 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 – 6
KOR 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 3 0 – 8
Team OAR 7, China 6 (11 ends)
It took a measurement in the 11th end, but by mere inches Russia was able to secure a victory over China 7-6.
The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the game, and tied three times in regulation.
On Japan’s final throw of the game, both teams had stones just outside of the button on either side of the house, but it was concluded that OAR was just barely closer for the stolen point and their first victory in PyeongChang.
OAR forced an extra end after scoring two in the 10th to tie the score at 6-6.
Both teams now sit at 1-1 overall.