Wang Zhiyu
Curler
Born (1996-08-24) August 24, 1996
Harbin, China
Team
Curling clubHarbin CC,
Harbin, CHN[1]
SkipMa Xiuyue
ThirdZou Qiang
SecondWang Zhiyu
LeadTian Jiafeng
AlternateLi Zhichao
Curling career
Member Association China
World Championship
appearances		2 (2019, 2021)
Pacific-Asia Championship
appearances		2 (2018, 2019)
Pan Continental Championship
appearances		1 (2023)
Olympic
appearances		1 (2022)
Medal record
Men's Curling
Representing  China
Pacific-Asia Curling Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gangeung
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Shenzhen

Wang Zhiyu (Chinese: 王智宇; pinyin: Wáng Zhìyǔ; born August 24, 1996, in Harbin)[2] is a Chinese curler. He currently plays second on the Chinese men's curling team skipped by Ma Xiuyue.

Career

As a junior curler, Wang threw last rocks for the Chinese junior men's team at the 2017 and 2018 World Junior Curling Championships, skipping the team in 2018. In 2017, Wang, skip Yuan Ming Jie, and front end Li Hong Bo and Kang Xin Long finished with a 2–7 record. In 2018, Wang led his team of Tian Jiafeng, Wang Xiangkun, and Zhang Zezhong to a 3–6 record. The team missed the playoffs in both tournaments.

After juniors, Wang joined the Chinese men's national team in 2018, playing third on the team, which was skipped by Zou Qiang. The team first played in the 2018 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, where they won a silver medal.[3] The team qualified for the 2019 World Men's Curling Championship,[4] finishing with a 2–10 record. Also that season, Wang played in the final leg of the Curling World Cup as second for Ba Dexin. The team lost in the event's final to Canada's Kevin Koe.

Team Zou represented China at the 2019 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. There, the team finished with a 7–2 round robin record. Following the round robin, the team lost in the semifinal to Japan but won the bronze medal game against New Zealand. The team then had to play in the 2020 World Qualification Event to qualify for the World Championship, which they won. This secured China a spot at the cancelled 2020 World Men's Curling Championship. On the World Curling Tour that season, Team Zou won the 2019 Black Diamond / High River Cash event.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the 2020–21 curling season was cancelled. However, the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship took place in a fan-less bubble in Calgary, with the teams qualifying for the 2020 Worlds qualifying for the event. At the 2021 Worlds, the team finished in last place with a 2–11 record.[5]

The next season, Wang was selected to be the second on the Chinese men's team for the 2022 Winter Olympics, held in Beijing.[6] The team also included skip Ma Xiuyue, Zou Qiang, Xu Jingtao and Jiang Dongxu. Despite not playing a single international competition before the Games, the team fared quite well, finishing the round robin with a 4–5 record. This included defeating higher-seeded teams such as Switzerland's Peter de Cruz, Norway's Steffen Walstad, and Italy's Joël Retornaz.[7] Ultimately, they finished in a four-way tie for fifth place; however, their head to head wins over Switzerland and Norway placed them alone in fifth place at the end of the competition.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "2021 BKT Tires-OK Tires World Men's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  2. ↑ 2019 World Men's Curling Championships Media Guide: Team China
  3. ↑ Tom Rowland (November 11, 2018). "Japan win Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2018 men's title". World Curling Federation. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  4. ↑ Ted Wyman (March 28, 2019). "WORLD CURLING BREAKDOWN: A team-by-team look at the world men's curling championship". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ "2021 World men's curling championship: Scores, schedule and standings". Sportsnet. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Spotlight turns to team curling at the Olympic Winter Games". World Curling Federation. February 9, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Great Britain in good form after win over ROC". World Curling Federation. February 16, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  8. ↑ "XXIV. Olympic Winter Games 2022". World Curling Federation. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.