Everything that will happen in Olympic curling today, Feb. 10, because it happened yesterday.
A crazy thing about time change during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games is that it basically gives us all the ability to see the future. Today is Friday, Feb. 10. It is morning here in America. Look at an Olympic schedule and you might think, yes, there is so much curling planned for today, Feb. 10. Specifically, the sessions 5 and 6 of round-robin play in the mixed doubles tournament are scheduled for today, Feb. 10.
But, lo, we already know what happened in those two sessions. Because that is the beauty of time travel/time zones.
Hamilton horoscope
Team USA is good, but these games increasingly reveal that they may be out of their league. For every awesome shot or strategic move the Hamiltons make, their opponents consistently outplay them.
Take, for example, the China game. USA will seem in control of the China game, but China is good and by the sixth end, they will be tied up. Then, in the final end, with the final play, China will score two and win.
That said, things will go shockingly better in the USA vs. Norway match. Norway has been dominant in the tournament, but will never really show up against the U.S., conceding after the sixth end with a score of 3-10.
Round robin predictions
By predictions, we mean this is actually going to happen.
The US will lose on the last possession to China; Norway will play and a full — and close! — game against Finland. (Guess it was a bad day all around for Norway.) Canada will dominate Switzerland, with the Swiss ceding the last two ends, and OAR will beat Korea 6-5.
The Russians will follow that up by losing 8-2 to Canada, ceding the last two ends in the sixth two
After these two rounds, the Olympic mixed doubles round robin standings will look like:
- Canada (5)
- Switzerland (4)
- Norway (4)
- Russia (4)
- China (3)
- Korea (2)
- USA (2)
- Finland (0)
Unfortunately, it’s just about impossible for the U.S. to qualify for the semi-finals. The top 4 move on from the round robin stage, meaning it will likely be between Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Russia and China.
You learn something new every day
Courtesy of the enthusiastic commentators and various events of the two Feb. 10 sessions:
- The 5 a.m. broadcasts don’t include commentary, as it turns out.
NEXT: Olympic curling favorites and frontrunners
You can (re-)watch Friday, Feb. 10’s two sessions of the mixed doubles round robin tournament by navigating through NBC’s Olympic hub. In Pyeongchang, in the future, the Sunday, Feb. 11 festivities (session 7 and the tie-breaker) kick off Saturday in the U.S. at 6 p.m. ET.