China into wheelchair curling final, makes ice hockey history at Beijing 2022

Zhang Mingliang of China (c) competes in the wheelchair curling semifinal against Canada at Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, March 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Xu Yanan)

China swept 15 medals of 39 on offer on Day 7 of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games and was only one step away from defending its wheelchair curling title after beating Canada for a final berth.

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Team China added 15 medals at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games here on Friday, while making it to the final in wheelchair curling.

With a 9-5 win over Canada, defending champion China set up a wheelchair curling final against Sweden on Saturday.

"I feel very excited to win today. We had a more relaxed game, not as tight as when we started a few days ago. Although we made some small mistakes, our overall performance was very good," said PyeongChang gold medalist Wang Haitao.

At the National Indoor Stadium, despite an 11-0 loss to the United States in the Para ice hockey semifinal, China still made history as they became only the third Asian team to make the semis at the Paralympic Games after Japan at Vancouver 2010 and South Korea at PyeongChang 2018.

China will face South Korea for bronze on Saturday. "We will do our best and try to win the game," said goalkeeper Ji Yanzhao.

Josh Pauls (R) of the United States vies with Shen Yifeng of China during the Para Ice Hockey semifinal at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, March 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

Zhang Mengqiu of China took her second gold at the Beijing Winter Paralympics in women's Alpine skiing giant slalom standing in one minute and 55.12 seconds, 5.83 seconds ahead of silver medalist Canadian Mollie Jepsen.

The Chinese skier is looking forward to another gold in the women's slalom race on Saturday after taking two golds and two silvers. "I have the chance to win a gold tomorrow. You can expect it," she said.

China's Liu Mengtao also took his second gold after winning the men's Para biathlon individual sitting, following another gold in middle distance sitting and a bronze in sprint sitting.

"The race wasn't easy. Haven't you seen my face when I was on the track, twisted and in pain? I mean it's 12.5 kilometers. And the snow was pretty slow today," said Liu, who took up the sport in 2016.

Gold medalist Zhang Mengqiu of China attends the awarding ceremony for the Para Alpine skiing somen's giant slalom standing of Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, March 11, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Jianan)

Elsewhere, Wu Zhongwei and Sun Qi added two more golds for China in the men's Para snowboard banked slalom SB-LL1 and SB-LL2 respectively.

With two competition days left before the closing ceremony on Sunday, China still leads the medal tally with a total of 47 medals, including 14 golds, followed by Ukraine and Canada.