Chinese women beat Qatar, their men down Japan in Asiad curling

The Chinese women curlers whitewashed Qatar while their men compatriots snapped Japan's unbeaten record at the Asian Winter Games here on Monday.

In the wake of an 8-6 loss to defending champions South Korea, the Chinese women, the twice Asiad runners-up, routed Qatar 23-1 as the latters lost all their four round-robin games to miss the semifinals.

"It's a tough game of course but I still enjoyed the game," said Qatari skipper Binali Maryam.

"It's my dream fighting with these top teams. China did well in this game," she added.

Maryam noted that their Asian Games journey would help the sport better known back home.

"Few people know curling in Qatar," she said. "I hope this trip will do something to improve popularity of this interesting game."

Against South Korea, China had a hard time despite a flying start. They took back three points in the second half, yet not enough to turn the table.

"South Korea got into form earlier," said China coach Tan Weidong. "But we played tough in the second half and gave the opponents a lot of pressure. We could have won or tied the game if they had made mistakes."

In the other women's action, Kazakhstan won 14-2 over Qatar while Japan lost to South Korea 7-5.

Japan will meet China on Tuesday, while South Korea face Kazakhstan.

The Chinese men, skippered by Liu Ruo who scored two points in the ninth end, edged their Japanese rivals 9-6 in the afternoon.

"The only thing I did was to forget about the mistake we made after the sixth end," said Liu after the match.

"Curling is a game played by a team of four. My teammates and I did our best."

"We have gained confidence from this victory," he added.

In the other games, defending champions South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 7-3, and Kazakhstan crushed Qatar 12-4.

Tuesday will see China take on South Korea and then Qatar. Endit