China beats Sweden to win world curling title

Source: TSN

China's stunning and sudden climb to the top of the women's curling world is complete.

Bingyu Wang put together another masterful performance Sunday, outduelling Sweden's Anette Norberg 8-6 to give her country its first-ever world women's curling championship.

Trailing 7-6 in the 10th end, Norberg drew to the edge of the four-foot with her final shot to lie two. Wang chose to play a hit for the win and removed both Swedish stones, jumping in the air when they went spinning out of the house. The team then joined in a group hug in front of more than 1,500 fans at the Gangneung International Ice Rink.

"So exciting," Wang said, proudly displaying her gold medal. "This game (between) Sweden and us was played so well."

The diminutive skip burst onto the scene last year, emerging from obscurity to post a 9-2 round-robin record before losing to Canada's Jennifer Jones in the final. Wang must have felt a sense of deja vu in her 2009 tournament opener, dropping an 11-6 decision to Jones in Draw 2.

She wouldn't lose again.

Outstanding achievement for China. They really have come out of nowhere to not only be competitive but win it all! Jones didn't even medal. Unacceptable for a Canadian team who used to dominate this event.

Watching the Scotties (Canadian Women's Championship) last month, the quality was appallingly poor. Jones won seven matches in a row to win the title, all on opponent mistakes. She should have lost to PEI in the tiebreaker if the PEI skip has a clue how to draw to the four foot (twice)!

I don't like Canada's chances in the women's curling event next year in Vancouver. Whoever wins the trails will be be a poor team. The men on the other hand are amazing. The best 10 teams in the World might all come from Canada. That gold medal is almost guaranteed.