Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt showed nerves of steel with two great comeback wins at the mixed doubles Final Olympic Qualification tournament in Leeuwarden, Netherlands to ensure they will progress to the knockout playoff stages.
The pair started their third day of competition coming back from 6-1 down to defeat Denmark 8-7 in the final end, before scoring the last four points of the match to beat Russia 8-6 after trailing 6-4 more than halfway through the match.
After earlier tournament victories over Germany and Turkey, the duo move to four wins and no losses, ensuring they will progress to the knockout playoff stages despite still having two matches against Spain and Hungary tonight (AEST) remaining in the round robin section of the tournament.
Hewitt and Gill have shown incredible precision and calm under pressure, as they strive to earn one of the final two Beijing 2022 quotas at this tournament to become Australia's first ever Olympic curlers.
Hewitt and Gill have shown incredible precision and calm under pressure, as they strive to earn one of the final two Beijing 2022 quotas at this tournament to become Australia's first ever Olympic curlers.
World Curling reported the Denmark pairing of Jasmin Lander and Henrik Holtermann started strongly against the Australian duo, opening with a score of two in the first end of their game. Denmark added another two points in the third end and following that up with a steal of two in the fourth when Australia's attempted tap-out did not curl, giving Denmark a 6-1 lead at the break.
Australia then called a power play in the fifth end and used it to score three points and bring themselves back into the game, at 4-6 down. Denmark's Jasmin Lander drew for one point in the sixth end to take a 7-4 lead but in the seventh, Australia drew to score three and tie the game at 7-7.
In a tense eighth end, Australia set themselves up with a stone on the button, with plenty of stones in front. Lander's final take-out attempt wrecked on a front stone, giving Australia a steal of one to complete a second-half comeback with an 8-7 win that kept their undefeated record going.
Australia's comeback curlers did it again later that evening against Russia, with World Curling reporting Australia's Gill got Australia off to a better start, just getting her last draw around a front guard to open the scoring with two points. In the second end, Russia could only score one point with a hit and stay by Anna Sidorova and in the third end, Gill missed her attempt to score three and had to settle for just two points and a 4-1 lead. Russia scored two in the fourth end with a gentle tap around the button by Sidorova to give Australia a 4-3 lead at the break.
Australia then called a power play in the fifth end and used it to score three points and bring themselves back into the game, at 4-6 down. Denmark's Jasmin Lander drew for one point in the sixth end to take a 7-4 lead but in the seventh, Australia drew to score three and tie the game at 7-7.
In a tense eighth end, Australia set themselves up with a stone on the button, with plenty of stones in front. Lander's final take-out attempt wrecked on a front stone, giving Australia a steal of one to complete a second-half comeback with an 8-7 win that kept their undefeated record going.
Australia's comeback curlers did it again later that evening against Russia, with World Curling reporting Australia's Gill got Australia off to a better start, just getting her last draw around a front guard to open the scoring with two points. In the second end, Russia could only score one point with a hit and stay by Anna Sidorova and in the third end, Gill missed her attempt to score three and had to settle for just two points and a 4-1 lead. Russia scored two in the fourth end with a gentle tap around the button by Sidorova to give Australia a 4-3 lead at the break.
In the fifth end, Gill just brushed a front guard with her last shot and this handed Russia a steal of three and the lead, 6-4. Australia then drew level in the sixth end with a draw for two by Gill and then a single steal in the seventh gave them a 7-6 lead. In the eighth, Russia's Sidorova missed a challenging raise take-out, giving Australia another single steal and the 8-6 win.
Dean Hewitt was happy with the result but said there was still work to do heading into the final round robin matches and knockout playoffs.
"We had to make a couple of freezes in that last end but overall, we're happy with that," Hewitt said. "We've had a few battles and now we just need to sharpen up on a couple of things, and go back to the drawing board for tomorrow."
The Australians will take on Hungary and Spain tonight (EAST) to close out the round robin section of the tournament, before the playoffs the following evening.
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