Chinese curlers Wang Bingyu and Zhou Yan have returned to the national team, leading to heightened expectations from fans across the country, as the World Women's Curling Championship 2017 got underway in Beijing. China's team showed their undaunted spirit in a tough start in the opener against traditional powers Canada.

Wang, 32,  is one of three skips at this competition who have won world titles in the past, and she is shrugging off any doubts about her form, following a break from the sport to have a baby. 

She is looking to focus on the positive side of things instead, saying, "I am so excited, especially after having a baby. It's a tough choice whether to stay with my baby or go back to the team, but I love curling, and I want be back."

The pressure of qualifying for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is certainly being felt by the veterans, but Wang and Zhou are viewing the situation as a fresh start. China will be hoping, even if the results don't go their way, to stay on course and make an impression on home turf, when the succeeding edition of the Games rolls into Beijing in seven years.

Ten teams will advance to Pyeongchang 2018, and this week's event is the last chance for rinks to earn Qualification Points. The seven squads with the best total tallies from 2016 and 2017 will go through, and the final two places in the Olympic line-up will be determined at a special qualifying event at the end of this year.

Wang and Zhou led China to gold at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, last month, and previously helped the country claim its first world title in 2009, when they upended Scandinavian powerhouse Sweden to win that year's Championship Final.