Ba Dexin (C) of China competes during the men's round robin match between China and the United States at 2018-2019 WCF World Cup Grand Final in Beijing, China, May 11, 2019. China won 6-3. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)
By sportswriter Spencer Musick
BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- China kept their hopes alive in this section of the Curling World Cup with a 6-3 win over John Schuster's Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. squad.
Things got off to a very slow start for the home side. In the first two ends, China were throwing their guards a bit deep, and the Americans weren't leaving them enough wiggle room to get their draws in.
Things began to turn around for China just before the fourth end break. With China on the hammer, Schuster took out a crucial draw, but Chinese vice skipper Ba Dexin was able to respond with a beautiful throw to just outside the button to level the score at 2-2 at halftime.
In the second throw of the 5th end, Wang Zhiyu attempted a takeout that was sent straight into the rail. But this ended up being just an aberration; China began to tighten up their placement and forced the Americans into sticky angles that proved impossible for Schuster to pull out.
In the sixth, momentum slid solidly toward the home squad. The Americans were allowing too much space with their guards, and their draws were not getting deep enough into the house, giving Ba the space to score a double to pull ahead 4-3.
The 7th end saw what looked to be a bit of a hiccup, when Zou Qiang threw a draw a bit deep into the house, allowing the Americans to play for a double.
But China managed to pull themselves together when it really counted, with Ba coming through and throwing a perfect draw into the button that stole the double from the Americans and allowed them to move two up at 5-3. It was all downhill for the Americans from there.
A tough moment for the U.S. came when second Matt Hamilton burned a rock at the 10th stone of the 8th end, giving China another crucial draw.
When all was said and done, the Americans were unable to pull off the double-take out that they needed in order force a shootout, giving China a crucial win and keeping their hopes alive on the home ice.
