China retain Wheelchair Curling gold

China reach their second consecutive title to cement themselves at the top of the sport Sweden's silver is their best ever finish at a Paralympic Winter Games 12 Mar 2022

The Chinese wheelchair curling team raise their arms in the air in celebration

China are a young team which bodes well for their future.

ⒸOIS/Bob Martin

By OIS

As the loudest and youngest rink in the tournament, defending champions China won their second Paralympic Wheelchair Curling gold on Saturday (12 March), with Sweden conceding before the start of the last end.

In a rematch of the 2021 World Championship final, the Beijing 2022 hosts beat the Swedish 8-3 at the same venue where the teams faced each other only a few months ago.

China had lost to Sweden, as well as Canada, in a rocky start to the round robin, but recovered to win eight matches in a row, before dispatching Canada in the semi-finals.

In the gold-medal game, China took a 5-2 lead in the fifth end, when Sweden skip Viljo Pettersson-Dahl failed to clear four Chinese stones from the house.

Cheered on by a loud but respectful crowd, China pressed home their advantage with three more stones in the seventh end, forcing Sweden to concede.

“We all played very well today, we were very confident," Chinese skip Wang Haito said. "I’m really happy right now. We did our country proud. We didn’t waste all the hard work put in over the last few years.”

The Swedish wheelchair curling team smile and wave after receiving their silver medal

Sweden can look-back on a great tournament. Ⓒ OIS Photos/Bob Martin

Sweden’s silver is their best ever finish at a Paralympic Winter Games, having won bronze at Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010.

“We made a big journey. We achieved a lot of experience over the years. It has been a fantastic ride,” Viljo Pettersson-Dahl said.

“You can't make any mistakes against them, not when they play like this. They had a perfect game today. So yeah, they deserved to win. Congrats to them.

“Of course I'm satisfied with a silver medal, but I was hoping for more, so I’m a bit disappointed right now.”

On Friday, Canada grabbed the bronze medal, as they did at PyeongChang 2018. It was a best-ever finish for their opponents Slovakia, who improved on their sixth place at Sochi 2014.

Another big improvement came from USA, who finished last four years ago but moved up to fifth at Beijing 2022 with a 5-5 win record.