Butterfield and Kean fall just short despite heroic comeback attempt

Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean experienced heartbreak in the mixed doubles wheelchair curling despite a heroic comeback attempt to force an extra end.

The pair were 5-0 down against Italy after just two ends, needing a win from their final match to progress to the semi-finals.

A rallying comeback attempt that had the potential to be filed straight into the folder labelled ‘all-timers’, fell just short in an extra end as they lost 11-10 as they finished fifth overall.

“We’re devastated,” said Butterfield. “We came in with a plan, and we didn’t quite execute it. The one thing I would say is I’m really proud of him and I’m proud of us.

“We started shockingly in that game. We really did. We weren’t ourselves. But we got to half time, and we said let’s show them what we can do, at least.

“We left it all out there. We gave it absolutely everything and we just fell short at the end. It hurts and we’re really sorry.”

The ParalympicsGB team suffered a calamitous first end that put them 4-0 down from the outset, only compounded by a one-point steal in the second to leave them staring down a five-point deficit.

With the excitement of the home Italian crowd reaching fever pitch, as chants of ‘Italia!’ rang round Cortina Curling Stadium, it was a margin that appeared too much even for Team JJ.

The teams exchanged two-point victories that left Italy 7-2 ahead at the break and a 3-0 win for Italy in the sixth end that saw the score read 10-4 meant hope dwindled further.

But Butterfield and Kean were not to be defeated.

Two consecutive three-point victories, including a steal as Orietta Berto missed her shot to clear GB’s house of three with the final stone, brought scores level once more.

Yet as Team JJ’s rollercoaster journey progressed, it would end in heartbreak as they lost the extra end 1-0, marking the end of their Paralympic dreams.

“It really is a rollercoaster of emotions. That’s curling, especially wheelchair curling, we’ve seen that a few times this week,” added Butterfield.

“We didn’t make it easy for ourselves. I had a good chance with my last stone in the eighth end, and I probably did bottle it a little bit.

“We’ll learn from it. We’re a pretty new partnership and if we can keep going as we’ve been going then hopefully, we can come back and do stronger.”

Slow starts proved to be Team JJ’s undoing in more ways than one as they lost their opening two matches to Estonia and then South Korea.

They followed with a three-game winning streak that placed them firmly back in contention, but defeat to China left them needing a win from their final match.

And despite how close they came, they could not quite muster the required result when it mattered.

“I’ve had a brilliant time with Jo,” added Kean. “It’s been up, it’s been down, it’s been left, it’s been right, it’s been every which way you can imagine but it would have been nicer to make those qualification places. I’m sorry everyone.”