Medal hopes for Canada's Homan, Morris dashed with extra end loss to Italy in mixed doubles curling
Ottawa duo needed victory to advance to semifinals following upset loss to Australia
Mixed doubles curling duo Rachel Homan and John Morris' hopes of a Canadian Olympic title defence ended in heartbreaking fashion on Monday in Beijing with an 8-7 extra end loss to Italy's Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner.
In what has been a dramatic 24 hours for the duo from Ottawa, the pressure fell on Homan to make the final throw of the game with the button open and a chance to score and win it to advance to the semifinals from the round robin.
Her throw nestled up against the Italians' rock and a measurement gave the win to Italy (9-0) by the slightest of margins.
"Probably the toughest loss I've ever had. I just really enjoyed the week besides the heartbreaking finish," Morris said. "We had some opportunities and I felt we managed the game great. We were down 4-2 and we had a really good comeback. I'm really proud of Rachel, she hung tough and fought really hard all week.
"I really liked the way we played against Italy. With one half a break or one millimetre here or there and we're playing the semifinals. So there's no point beating a dead horse. ... The bottom line is we're so proud to represent Canada."
WATCH | Homan, Morris fall to Italy by millimetre in extra end:
With Italy up 5-4 after six ends, Mosaner did not help his team's case with a clearing to open the door for Canada (5-4) to take advantage. On Italy's final throw, Constantini was able to get a double take-out but not quite get every rock, as Homan got a draw on the hammer to score three points and take a 7-5 lead with the powerplay.
In the eighth, Italy was able to send the game to an extra end with two points after Canada's final stone didn't get far enough in the house to score any points. That left Constantini to get a draw to capitalize on one stone already in the house during the powerplay.
"I'm proud of our efforts. We were fighting for every inch out there," Homan said. "I just guessed wrong in a couple of them. That's kind of the difference. It's a game of millimetres out there. And yeah, one more shot and we're in the playoffs. So that sucks.
"We tried our best for Canada. We made some phenomenal shots [when] we needed to, and John was phenomenal all week. I wish I could have made a few more."
WATCH | Italy eliminates Canada from Olympic mixed doubles competition:
Canada had opened up the game in a 1-0 hole, only to follow it up with a two-point second end. Italy was able to answer with three points across the third and fourth ends to go up 4-2.
Homan and Morris did not make it easy though, as they added another two-point end in the fifth before the Italians took the lead back in the sixth.
Morris had won gold in 2018 with Kaitlyn Lawes in the first Olympics to hold mixed doubles curling as an event.
Drama leading up to final round robin game
The Australian duo of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt had initially withdrawn hours before the game due to a positive COVID-19 test from Gill.
In a turn of events, the pairing was given the green light to continue on in competition after the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) received an email from the Chinese Public Health System advising them that Gill and Hewitt could continue to compete under the Close Contact provisions.
WATCH | USA curler Persinger reacts to Australia's Gill testing positive for COVID-19:
Italy had already advanced with the top seed before Monday night's game thanks to a perfect record through the round robin. The Italians will next play Sweden (5-4) at 7:05 a.m. ET on Monday in the semifinals. The Swedes advanced with a tiebreaker over Canada, having already defeated them 6-2.
Great Britain (6-3) will play Norway (6-3) in the other semifinal game at 7:05 a.m. ET on Monday as well. The medal games are scheduled for Tuesday.
All competitions will be streamed live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website.
WATCH | Replay of Canada's dramatic round robin match against Italy:
