The second session of mixed doubles curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics saw four more games as action continued at the Ice Cube.
There were victories for host nation China, Italy, making their tournament debut, Sweden and Great Britain. Norway and Switzerland had the session off.
Here is a full recap of all of the action from Beijing.
China 6, Australia 5
Australia (0-2) came close to their first Olympic curling win for a second straight game, but a mistake in the final end allowed China (2-0) to hold on for the win.
The Australians were coming off of a disappointing loss to Team USA in their first game of the Olympics while China defeated Switzerland in their first Olympic match.
China led 3-1 after three ends and kept that lead through four after a crucial mistake in the fourth by Australia. Tahli Gill had an empty house and just needed to put the rock anywhere, but her throw was too hard and went through, blanking the end and giving up hammer to China in the fifth.
China capitalized by taking a point in the fifth to extend their lead to 4-1. Gill redeemed herself in the sixth with a perfect takeout that scored three points and tied the score with two ends remaining.
China got two back with a shot by SuYuan Fan that went past the guard and curled perfectly thanks to the sweeping of teammate Zhi Ling, getting into the house to again put China up 6-4.
In the eighth, Australia needed two to at least force extra ends, and had a chance with a crowded house, but Gill’s hammer throw missed everything, forcing the Aussies to settle for just one point.
Sweden 7, Czech Republic 4
On Sheet B, Sweden (1-1) rallied to top the Czech Republic (1-1) in a hard-fought contest.
The Czechs stole a point in the third after a takeout throw by Zuzana Paulova on their final throw and a mistake by Sweden that saw their hammer throw curl too much and out of the inside. Paulova and Tomas Paul led 2-1 through three ends.
Sweden stole a point right back in the fifth after the Czech hammer throw went wide to put the Swedes back in front 3-2. They then scored twice in both the seventh and eighth ends for the come-from-behind victory.
Italy 8, United States 4
The Italian team of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner built a big lead and held off Team USA in their Olympic opener on Sheet C.
Struggling with the speed of the ice, the Americans (1-1) gave up four points in the second and allowed a steal of one in the third, but Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys fought back.
Single points in the fourth, fifth and sixth cut the deficit to 5-4, the last of those coming when Constantini committed a hog-line violation. Mosaner then hit his broom on a rock that cost Italy an additional point.
Persinger then had a chance for a takeout in the eighth end, but her last rock only skimmed an Italian stone and went through, giving Constantini and Mosaner their final margin of victory.
Great Britain 6, Canada 4
The highlight match of the session saw the defending Olympic champions, consisting of John Morris and Rachel Homan face off with the duo of Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, the regining world champs on Sheet D.
Homan’s hammer throw in the third hit the guard, allowing Great Britain to steal a point with a lone rock on the button to take a 2-1 lead early.
Canada scored two more in the sixth, but Great Britain answered with two of their own in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead going into the final end.
A steal in the eighth saw Great Britain improve their record to 2-0 while Canada fell to 1-1.
Following the victory, Dodds said "I think it was a step up from last night's game. We figured out the ice a bit better and it stayed the same speed through the whole game.
"If you said at the start of the week we were going to be 2-0 playing two great teams in Sweden and Canada, I think anyone in the field would take that."