Chinese mixed doubles curlers remain hopeful of reaching 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games

Chinese curlers remained hopeful of reaching the mixed doubles competition at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, despite a 6-5 loss to Australia in qualifying on Wednesday in the Canadian city of Kelowna.

After New Zealand beat the Netherland 8-5 in a later contest, China advanced to the play-off phase to meet the Republic of Korea on Thursday. The winning team will face the loser of the contest between the Czech Republic and Australia for a spot at next year's Winter Olympics.

China's Yu Sen delivered his side's penultimate red stone, which hit an Australian yellow and stayed on the button, en route to clinching one point in the opening end.

With Australia's Tahil Gill and Dean Hewitt leading 2-1 into the third end, Yu executed a double take-out with a red stone on the way to knotting the score at 2-2.

The Chinese pair continued to battle, as Ye Zixuan tied the score again at 3-3 after five ends. They managed to turn the tables in the seventh end when Ye's last throw took out Australia's only yellow in the house, grabbing two points for a 5-4 advantage.

Ye came up short on China's final stone in the eighth end, however, allowing Australia to claim two points and seal both the win and a play-off spot without needing to throw their last stone.