The U.S. men's curling team suffered defeats to China and Italy on Tuesday, dropping their record to 4-4 and tying for fifth place in the round-robin standings. These losses have complicated their path to the semifinals, with only one game remaining against Great Britain. Both matches ended 8-5 in favor of the opponents, marked by critical errors in key ends.
In the first game against China, the U.S. team, led by skip Danny Casper, held a 2-1 lead at the fifth-end break. However, a mishandled draw in the eighth end allowed China to steal three points, taking a 5-2 advantage. Casper's shot glided too fast into the eight-foot, which his sweepers attributed to a misread.
"It was a bit of a misread by Ben (Richardson) and I on the sweep there," said U.S. third Aidan Oldenburg. "Because he threw it good enough to make it and it’s our job as sweepers to make that draw for him in the eighth."
The Americans responded in the ninth end, where Casper removed a Chinese stone to score three and tie the game at 5-5. But in the tenth, needing a steal, they failed to build stones in the house, and China's Xu Xiaoming secured three points for the 8-5 win.
"I knew we had to go all out for the steal and put some rocks in good spots, and we just weren't sharp enough with those a couple first rocks," Oldenburg added.
Casper noted struggles with shot execution and weight, crediting China while blaming their own performance. The match followed rock papering overnight, which affected ice paths early on.
Later, against Italy, the U.S. faced a home crowd and veteran skip Joel Retornaz. Italy scored three in the sixth end after Casper's freeze overcurled, leading 5-2. The U.S. narrowed it to 5-4 in the seventh with a takeout, but Italy added two more in the eighth.
The Americans scored one in the ninth, but Retornaz's precise throw in the tenth secured a single point for the 8-5 victory. Statistics showed Italy slightly ahead on draws (81% vs. 80%) and takeouts (86% vs. 74%).
"That was awesome. Super fun," Casper said of the crowd. "Obviously, it didn't come out our way, but the crowd being loud and chanting... it's super cool to be a part of."
With these results, the U.S. ties Great Britain at 4-4, outside the top four semifinal spots. Casper emphasized focusing on one game at a time, noting improvements from morning to evening. The team faces Great Britain on Wednesday at 8:05 a.m. ET.
