Paralympics Day 6 Viewing Schedule: Team USA jostles for spot in wheelchair curling semifinals

The US wheelchair curling team came away with two crucial victories Wednesday against Switzerland and Latvia. But it will need to do it again Thursday on the final day of the round-robin play against Sweden and South Korea in order to give itself a chance to secure one of the four spots in the tournament’s semifinals.

The standings going into Day 6 are as close as it gets – Defending gold medalist and reigning world Champion China and the respective 2021 and 2020 world runner-ups Sweden and Canada all have six wins; Slovakia sits in fourth with a record of 5-3; and three teams – the US, Latvia and South Korea – are tied at 4-4.

China, Sweden and Canada can clinch with just one Victory apiece. China and Sweden have two chances to do so, while Canada only has one with a single game against 2018 silver medalist Norway. Slovakia could also control its own Destiny with a pair of wins, although even one still puts the team in a good position to lock up a berth.

Team USA’s chances are extremely slim, but it’s remarkable they even exist for a squad that started 1-3. A required scenario for the US to make it into the semis is that Slovakia must drop both of its games, and that’s because the Slovakians toped the Americans in their opener 9-3 and would win a tiebreaker in the records.

If Slovakia can’t find a win, and the US defeats both Sweden and South Korea, the Americans will advance. Their Victory over the Latvians on Wednesday assures a favorable tie break in the event of matching 6-4 records, and the US can’t remain tied with South Korea since the two play one another.

Day 5 Standings

1. 6-2 China (to play GBR, LAT)
1. 6-2 Sweden (to play USA, KOR)
3. 6-3 Canada (to play NOR)
4. 5-3 Slovakia (to play SUI, EST)
————————-
5. 4-4 South Korea (to play USA, SWE)
5. 4-4 Latvia (to play GBR, CHN)
5. 4-4 United States (to play SWE, KOR)
8. 4-5 Norway
9. 3-5 Great Britain
10. 2-6 Estonia
11. 1-7 Switzerland

Key Past Results

Day 1: Canada 7, China 3
Day 1: Slovakia 9, United States 3
Day 1: Latvia 8, South Korea 4
Day 2: Sweden 5, China 1
Day 2: Latvia 8, Slovakia 4
Day 3: Sweden 6, Canada 3
Day 4: Slovakia 7, South Korea 2
Day 4: Slovakia 9, Canada 8
Day 5: United States 8, Latvia 7

(Rules of Curling via World Curling)