Chinese athletes Ling Zhi and Fan Suyuan presented the U.S. duo of Christopher Plys and Victoria Persinger with gifts after their mixed doubles curling contest at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the National Aquatics Center in Beijing on Saturday.

The U.S. pair defeated the Chinese team 7-5 in the eighth end. Fighting from 3-1 down, Ling and Fan managed to score two points in the fourth end to level it 3-3. But in the fifth end, the U.S. team capitalized on Ling/Fan's mistake to score three points for a 6-3 lead.

China had some good shots in the sixth and reduced the Americans' lead to 6-5. In the seventh end, however, the American pair scored one point to seal a 7-5 victory.

"The Chinese athletes played very well against us. They made a lot of great shots. It went back and forth until we were able to capitalize on some mistakes they made late in the game," Persinger said.

Fan gave two sets of pins featuring Beijing 2022 mascots Bing Dwen Dwen to their rivals, and the two teams also took a photo together to mark the match.

"The pins are beautiful and so special. We'll remember this forever," said Persinger.

Plys also talked about Ling's hometown Harbin, a city in northeast China that boasts a long history of ice and snow sports.

"I would love to go back to Harbin again, and it's always nice," said Plys.

(With input from Xinhua)