Chinese curlers extend winning streaks at Harbin Asian Winter Games

Chinese curlers won all three of their contests on Monday in the men's and women's round robins at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The women's team played twice in the same day, beating Qatar 14-0 and Kazakhstan 11-4, to extend their winning streak to four in a row in the round robin phase.

China took control early against Kazakhstan, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after the first two ends. Although their opponents pulled two back in the third end, they never came close to recovering. The hosts continued to score in the fourth, fifth and seventh ends, on the way to clinching an easy victory.

The Chinese men's team defeated Qatar 11-1 to claim their third straight win.

The hosts suffered a 2-1 loss in a men's ice hockey group stage game against Japan, despite scoring first.

Hou Yuyang opened the scoring for China early in the first period, after exploiting a mistake by the opposing team. Japan tied the score in the second period, when Riku Ishida converted a long shot during a power play. And in the third period, Kenta Takagi's long-range effort put Japan ahead.

China pulled their goaltender to press forward with six skaters with two minutes left, but Japan's defense held steady to seal the win.

"I'm not satisfied with my performance today," said China's 19-year-old goalkeeper Chen Shifeng. "The team played well and followed the coach's plan, so I take responsibility for the goals we conceded. Today's game gave me valuable experience, and I am looking forward to having a better performance in the knockout rounds."

Both China and Japan advanced to the quarterfinals, where the home side will meet Chinese Taipei, while Japan will face Thailand.