CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Joel Retornaz’s Italy beat Britain 9-7 on Friday to continue its winning start at the Winter Olympics with a victory over another favorite in the men’s curling competition, boosting hopes of a medal on home ice.
In its opening match, Italy beat Olympic champions Sweden, which also lost to Britain on Thursday.
Britain, the defending world champions, began on a disastrous note as skip Bruce Mouat attempted a complicated takeout but ended up clearing out a couple of his own team’s stones, giving Italy a steal of four points in the first end.
A frustrated Mouat kicked out at a stone and then got back to work, nailing a double takeout in the fourth end to reduce the deficit before another stolen point left the score at 5-4 to Italy at the halfway mark.
With momentum slowly shifting towards the top-ranked British side after it leveled at 7-7 in the penultimate end, Retornaz sealed two points with the final stone to secure the win.
“It’s good for us, it’s good for the fans, and those are the games you want to be in,” Retornaz said.
“Something changes in the head because you have those four points (in the first end), but that’s what you have to fight also.
“You have to fight your mindset because you cannot rely on those four points in the first end out of ten. The game is too long.”
Brad Jacobs’ Canada also picked up a comfortable 6-3 win over Danny Casper’s United States, while Yannick Schwaller-led Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 7-3. Norway defeated China 8-6 in a hard-fought encounter which went into an extra end.
US WOMEN BEAT CANADA
In the women’s competition, Tabitha Peterson’s United States team claimed the country’s first-ever Olympic victory over neighbors Canada.
Two-time world champion and top-ranked Canada, led by Rachel Homan, had a slender lead heading into the final end but the United States had the hammer and Peterson sealed a 9-8 win.
Both nations have competed at every Games since curling’s return to the official program in 1998, but the U.S. women’s team has won no medals, while Canada has won two golds, a silver and a pair of bronzes.
Asked what it was like to record a first Games win over Canada, Peterson said: “That’s what I just heard too. I know we came close in the past. Great time to beat the number one team … It was a good game, it was a good battle.”
The U.S. women’s team includes Cory Thiesse, who became the first American woman to win an Olympic curling medal when she and partner Korey Dropkin won silver in mixed doubles earlier in these Games.
Britain suffered its second defeat in as many games, losing 9-3 to South Korea, while Silvana Tirinzoni’s Switzerland beat China 7-5.
Anna Hasselborg’s Sweden saw out a narrow 6-5 win over Denmark, which moved the team to the top of the standings with a 3-0 record.
Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues on Friday. The top four advance to the semifinals next week.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
