Five shots in the final two ends saw ParalympicsGB claim a much-needed victory over the USA to finish the opening day on an even keel at The Ice Cube in Beijing.
Following their defeat to Norway in their opening match earlier in the day, there was some pressure on the British quartet of skip Hugh Nibloe, Gregor Ewan, David Melrose and Meggan Dawson-Farrell and they made an edgy start to their encounter with the Americans. 
Starting with the hammer, their opponents scored two at the opening end, then added a steal at the next. However Ewan, playing his team’s final stones, capitalised on errors by American skip Matthew Thums to raise a stone into the eight foot to lie two with his first and then draw a third to level the scores.
A two at the fourth for the USA gave them a 5-3 lead at the break, but Ewan produced a skip stones double at the fifth to the level the match and, after their opponents were forced at the next, he did so again at the seventh to edge his team ahead for the first time.
A near perfectly executed final end then piled the pressure onto the Americans and they ultimately conceded a three which gave ParalympicsGB a 10-6 win.
“We didn’t start the best, but in the second half we played some good rocks and controlled the game better,” said Nibloe.
The skip heaped praise on his vice skip for the way he delivered in the big moments.
“Gregor was absolutely brilliant. That’s why he gets paid the big bucks to play the last shots,” he joked.
“We got a stone in a good position at the last end and managed to weld one round the centre guard and had the USA chasing from the start. David then followed Meggan up with some good stones and I managed to do that too, then Gregor rounded the end off and left the USA with a really tough tap up.”
Ewan reciprocated in full, crediting his teammates with providing him with the opportunities, particularly at that decisive final end.
“It’s a team game. I managed to play a couple of crucial shots at the right time, but they set it up for me and make my shots easier,” he said.
“Meggan played two perfect shots, David played two perfect shots, Shug played two perfect shots and I just needed to guard which are the easier shots.” 
He felt that epitomised the way they had responded to the setback against Norway in their opener.
“It’s never good to lose a game, but you can’t dwell on it,” said Ewan.
“You’ve got to find a way of marching on, getting stronger together and putting on a good show.”
Having originally been due to face the Russian representatives in their only match of day two, the team now have a day off and their skip reckoned it would offer a chance to reflect on that mixed opening day and get ready to come back refreshed on day three of competition.
“The USA and Norway were two tough games, both potentially 50/50s, so I guess winning one of them is about right, but it was just so important that we got the win and going into this unexpected day off we can sleep better tonight and we can maybe enjoy some other activities as well as some extra practice,” said Nibloe.
5 March
GB – Norway 5-7
GB – USA 10-6
7 March
GB – Switzerland
GB – Slovakia
8 March
GB – Estonia
GB – Sweden
9 March
GB – Canada
GB – Korea
10 March
GB – China
GB – Latvia
11 March
Semi finals
Bronze medal game
12 March
Gold medal game
Images: ParalympicsGB
