Chinese Curling Comes Of Age

If only they knew! With the world's largest potential fan base behind them, the Chinese women's curling team of Bingyu Wang, Yin Liu, Qingshuang Yue and Yan Zhou should be the most popular girls in that country this morning. Millions and millions of citizens should be waking up to read in their Beijing Globe & Mail's and their Shanghai Star's of the exploits of their nation's newest sports phenoms. I'm thinking however, that the most successful day in Chinese curling history will probably be relagated to page six of the sports section.
What Wang and company accomplished yesterday in Vernon, British Columbia was akin to the New York Giants beating the undefeated New England Patriots for the Super Bowl, and then two hours later, trouncing the Indianapolis Colts for good measure.
In a battle of the undefeated in Draw 9 of this year's Ford World Women's Curling Championships, the Chinese team took Canada's Jennifer Jones down to last rock in a see-saw match for first place in the standings. Facing two Chinese counters, Jones was uncharacteristically heavy with her draw to the four foot and dang if Wang didn't steal the 9-7 win! Both teams curled 79% for the game, but China's second, Qingshuang Yue led all shooters with an 89% proficiency rating.
After a brief respite, the Chinese foursome returned to battle against former world champ Debbie McCormick of the U.S.A. The Americans were less than stellar in their execution and Wang took full advantage of their miscues en route to an abbreviated 10-1 victory.
Make no mistake, this is not a case of smoke and mirrors. After 11 draws, Wang is tied with Canada's Jones on top of the stats board as the sharpest shooting skips in the shootout at 80%.
These ladies know how to curl. The Chinese have all but assured themselves a place at the playoff table and have got to be liking their prospects. If only the world's largest potential fan base knew!