China preserved its undefeated record in the mixed doubles wheelchair curling competition at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Paralympics with an 8-7 victory over host nation Italy on Thursday. The United States split its two matches, falling 7-5 to Japan before rebounding with an 8-4 win against Estonia. South Korea also improved to 2-1 with dominant victories over Great Britain and Japan.
The wheelchair curling mixed doubles round-robin continued on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, featuring eight games across two sessions. This marked day two of the inaugural event at the Winter Paralympics, with eight teams competing.
China, led by Wang Meng and Yang Jinqiao, extended its record to 3-0. After earlier wins over Japan and Latvia (10-2), the pair faced Italy. Italy opened with a three-point end, but China tied the score at 3-3 by the third end through a guarded stone play. Italy regained a three-point lead, yet China responded with three points in the sixth end, forcing an extra end. Yang's pivotal shot in the added end knocked out Italy's stone, securing the 8-7 win despite Italy's final throw pushing China's yellow stone safer.
The United States, with Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer, started Thursday against Japan, the 2025 world champions. Tied 1-1 after two ends, Japan pulled ahead with points in the third, fourth, and fifth ends for a 6-1 lead. The U.S. used a power play in the sixth for four points, narrowing the gap to 6-5, but Japan's precise tenth stone in the seventh made it 7-5, and the U.S. could not recover in the eighth.
Against Estonia's Kätlin Riidebach and Ain Villau, previously 2-0 after beating Great Britain 10-7 and Italy 6-5, the U.S. trailed 2-0 early. Dwyer's key shot in the second end delivered three points for a lead, followed by another deuce in the third via a guard rock. The U.S. built a 7-2 advantage by the fourth and won 8-4 after seven ends.
South Korea, after a first-round loss to Italy, dominated Great Britain 14-3 and shut out Japan 9-0 in six ends, reaching 2-1. Latvia fell to 0-3 with losses to China and the U.S. (from Wednesday).
Standings after Thursday: China (3-0), USA (2-1), Estonia (2-1), South Korea (2-1), Italy (1-2), Great Britain (1-2), Japan (1-2), Latvia (0-3). The top four advance to semifinals after seven matches. Next, the U.S. faces Great Britain on Friday, March 6, at 3:05 a.m. ET, while China meets South Korea.
