Olympics-Curling-US, Britain maintain winning streaks, champions Italy bounce back

By Aadi Nair

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 6 (Reuters) – The United States claimed a key 7-5 victory over neighbours Canada in the mixed doubles curling at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, while reigning champions Italy returned to winning ways.

Momentum swung wildly during the nail-biting encounter between Americans Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse and Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, with the game drawn at 4-4 after six ends.

However, a perfectly timed powerplay and a clutch shot from Thiesse nudged the Canadians’ stone out of the house and sealed a crucial three points and ultimately the victory for the U.S., with rapper Snoop Dogg in attendance.

Asked if Snoop’s presence and the vocal support of the U.S. crowd had made it difficult to focus, Dropkin said: “It’s not always easy, especially if you let your mind wander a little bit too much. 

“Sometimes it can be a little bit of a relaxant where you can let your mind have a little bit of appreciation for what’s going on around you and then lock it back in when you need to.”

Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who saw their unbeaten run ended by Canada on Thursday, were trailing 4-3 to Switzerland in their round-robin encounter but hit back in the fourth end with four points.

They followed that up with another three points in the fifth and two more in the sixth to lead 12-4 and force Switzerland into conceding with two ends remaining.

Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, the 2021 world champions, eased to a 7-4 win over Sweden’s Rasmus and Isabella Wranaa to cement their position at the top of the round-robin standings, having won all four of their games so far. 

“We’re playing really well, having a lot of fun out there, and that was the best game that we played so far, so we’re building momentum,” Mouat said.

Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues later on Friday at the Cortina Olympic Curling Centre, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals next week.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)