Olympics-Curling-Italy and US win to boost playoff hopes, Britain’s perfect streak ends

By Aadi Nair

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Olympic champions Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini of Italy edged closer to qualifying for the mixed doubles curling playoffs at the Milano Cortina Games on Sunday, while Britain had their winning run ended by Switzerland.

Reigning Olympic and world champions Italy delivered a strong performance against the Czech Republic to win 8-2 in just six ends, with Constantini clinching a three-pointer in the second end to put them on the path to victory early.

The Italian duo are second in the round-robin standings with five wins from their seven games, tied with Americans Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse, who defeated Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill of Estonia 5-3.

Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, who are the only team so far to have sealed their spot in the semi-finals after winning their first seven games, slipped to a 7-6 defeat at the hands of Switzerland.

Switzerland had an early lead but fell behind heading into the final end, with Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann taking two points with the last throw to grab a win.

“I thought to myself ‘don’t let the momentum change’. They were coming back and even were ahead a bit,” said Schwaller-Huerlimann’s partner Yannick Schwaller.

“For future games, if we can have a bit more control, even in those moments, and not let them get close again, that would be really important.”

Sweden’s Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa also improved their chances of finishing in the top four, beating fellow playoff contenders Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman of Canada 7-6.

In Sunday’s morning session, the Czech Republic and South Korea claimed their second wins of the mixed doubles competition.

The Czechs beat twice Olympic medallists Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien of Norway 6-3, while South Korea clinched a 9-3 win over Estonia.

Teams play nine times in the round-robin stage at the Cortina Olympic Curling Centre, with the semi-finals taking place on Monday and the medal matches scheduled for Tuesday.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Ken Ferris and Clare Fallon)