GB wheelchair curlers beat Latvia for first Games win

Great Britain defeated Latvia 6-5 to claim their first win in the wheelchair curling mixed doubles event at the Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina.

Having been beaten 10-7 by Estonia in Wednesday’s opening game before losing 14-3 in just seven ends to world number ones South Korea on Thursday morning, GB needed a better performance in their second match of the day.

And against the Latvians, who had also lost their first two matches, Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean rallied after their opponents stole one in the opening end.

Butterfield, who is aiming to become the first Briton to win Winter and Summer Paralympic golds – having finished first in the club throw event at Rio 2016 – played a key role with two superb shots either side of the break.

Her last stone of the fourth end enabled a score of two to take a 5-2 lead into the interval, while her final stone of the fifth end resulted in a steal for a 6-2 advantage.

“We enjoyed that one. It is great to get our first win and hopefully we can build some momentum from that,” said Butterfield.

“We played so much better. It was a performance, especially in the first half, that we know we can play. That’s the team we know we can be.

“We actually played better this morning than we did last night, although the scoreline didn’t reflect it. We have been building in every game we have played so far. Tonight we came out even better.”

The Britons had struggled against the Koreans in the earlier match, which fell away in the fourth end with Hyejin Baek and Yongsuk Lee 3-2 up in the match and scoring four with one stone each to play.

Butterfield missed a takeout attempt and Baek sent her final stone into the house to secure a score of five to put them 8-2 ahead.

GB opted to use the powerplay in the fifth end but once again South Korea controlled the end and were able to steal two to leave them 10-2 up and firmly in control.

Although GB pulled one back in the sixth end, the Koreans maintained their dominance with another strong seventh end to add another four and the match was brought to an early conclusion before the scheduled final end.