China's mixed doubles curling team suffered a heartbreaking defeat 🥌 in their final bid to qualify for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, losing 7-3 to the Republic of Korea (ROK) during Thursday's playoff in Kelowna, Canada.
Yu Sen and Ye Zixuan struggled early, trailing 4-2 after three ends. A missed final delivery in the fourth end allowed the ROK's Jeong Yeong-seok and Kim Seon-yeong to extend their lead to 5-2. Despite switching to aggressive tactics after halftime, the Chinese pair only scored once in the fifth end while their opponents maintained defensive dominance.
The ROK sealed their victory with a chaotic seventh-end steal and a showstopping double takeout in the eighth end, forcing China to concede. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic and ROK secured the final Olympic spots after defeating Australia in separate matches.
This marks China's first failure to qualify in mixed doubles curling since the discipline debuted at the 2018 Winter Games. Fans took to social media with 🥺 emojis, expressing support for the young athletes who dominated last year's Asian Winter Championships.
