Canada’s Rachel Homan and John Morris discuss a shot during preliminary round mixed curling against Czech Republic on Feb. 6, 2022 at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.The Canadian Press
There was plenty of pre-game curling drama Sunday at the Beijing Games. Rachel Homan and John Morris then took things to another level with an absolute thriller at the Ice Cube.
Homan threw her last stone with one second left to score a game-tying pair and Canada won it with a deuce in the extra end for a 7-5 victory over the Czech Republic.
“Absolutely the most dramatic curling game I’ve ever been a part of,” Morris said. “Just a roller-coaster. We just had to hang tough and just hope for the best.”
Canada settled for a split on the day. Homan and Morris came out flat in the evening game and couldn’t quite recover, dropping a 10-8 decision to Australia in an extra end.
Earlier, with the game against the Czechs on the line and needing to draw for a piece of the button to tie, Homan’s view of the time clock was partially obstructed.
“I saw a four and I assumed it said 14 (seconds),” Homan said. “So I double-checked with John and he said, ‘Go, go, go.”’
Unlike sports like hockey and basketball, curling does not use split seconds on its timers. Canadian coach Scott Pfeifer said the release was about as close as you could get.
“A shot that she’s thrown many times at these Games but not under that kind of time crunch,” he said.
Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul had hammer in the extra end but Homan made a nice angle bump raise that essentially left the Czechs without a shot.
“Not how we drew it up but just a dramatic game and I’m really proud of Rachel for making the clutch shots when we needed her,” Morris said.
Canada entered the night game with a chance to qualify for the playoffs with a win and a Sweden or Norway loss.
But Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt opened with a three and stole two points in the second end. Australia led 7-0 at the break but Canada put up four points in the fifth end to make a game of it.
Canada's John Morris and Canada's Rachel Homan curl the stone during the mixed doubles round robin session 12 game of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games curling competition between Canada and Australia, at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Feb. 6, 2022.LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP/Getty Images
Canada put more pressure on in the sixth but Gill made a brilliant angle-raise double takeout for a single. Canada scored three in the seventh but Homan was heavy on a freeze attempt in the extra end.
Morris and Homan will take a 5-3 record into Monday’s round-robin finale against Italy.
In other late games, Italy outscored Sweden 12-8, Switzerland edged the United States 6-5 and Norway beat Great Britain 6-2.
Italy led the 10-team mixed doubles standings at 8-0. Canada fell into a three-way tie at 5-3 with Great Britain and Norway.
Sweden was next at 5-4. The top four teams will make the playoffs.
There was much uncertainty before the afternoon session when the Australian Olympic Committee announced that Gill and Hewitt would have to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.
However, public health authorities later advised the team that Gill’s PCR tests over the past 24 hours fell into an acceptable range, the AOC said.
“I had packed my bags and was prepared to head home,” Gill said.
Gill and Hewitt made the most of their return, topping Switzerland 9-6 for their first win of the week before knocking off the Canadians.
“It was an incredible feeling once we did find out that we could finally play,” Hewitt said.
Gill and Hewitt have been coached by Morris and they relocated to Canmore, Alta., last fall for training.
Before the pre-game practice in the afternoon, Morris walked two sheets over to give Gill a fist bump. After the session, he gave Hewitt a friendly grab of the shoulder in the media interview area.
Morris put his coaching hat away when Australia booked its Beijing berth in December. Pete Manasantivongs served as Australian coach at the Games.
Gill said she got word of the positive test on Sunday morning. The green light came about an hour before game time.
“The medical team had pushed so hard to get my case reviewed just to prove that I’m not infectious,” she said. “And I’m not because I had COVID over a month ago. So it’s just shedding dead virus really, which is unfortunate.
“But we followed the process and we were respectful of the rules and just so grateful that we’re able to get out here and finish our campaign.”
The semifinals are set for Monday night and the medal games will be played Tuesday.