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Image source, Getty Images
GB skip Hugh Nibloe is playing at his third Paralympics
ByElizabeth Hudson
BBC Sport journalist
The Great Britain wheelchair curling mixed team's disappointing campaign at the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics continued with a 9-4 defeat by China.
The GB team's slim hopes of a semi-final place disappeared on Tuesday when their loss to Italy, combined with China's victory over Latvia meant they could not qualify for the knockout stage.
And although Great Britain played well in the first six ends against the two-time defending champions, a dreadful seventh end which saw China steal three brought an early end to proceedings and marked a sixth defeat in seven matches.
"With that last stone [of the seventh end], I was three-hundredths of a second away from making the shot," said Stewart Pimblett. "If you get a stopwatch and try and stop on three-hundredths of a second, it is hard to do so.
"It is a bit heartbreaking. I am proud of what myself and the team have done here because we have gone hit-for-hit with the best teams in the world, and we just haven't got over the line."
China, who have just one loss in the round-robin phase, started well and led 3-0 after the opening end.
The British rink were level after three ends and then some good play restricted China to just one in the next.
Pimblett's accurate shot levelled the match again in the fifth end but although GB had a chance to steal in the next, they were unable to execute and China edged 6-4 ahead.
With the advantage of the last stone in the seventh end and needing two to draw level, GB needed to remain strong but some shot-making and judgement errors enabled their opponents to steal and secure the win.
They will be in action again on Wednesday at 18:05 against Latvia before their final round-robin game against Norway on Thursday.
"With the last two games, we are going to look to win them and try and end on a bit of a high," said GB skip Hugh Nibloe.
"I think we have got the results we have deserved, but at the same time, we have played well at times, and individually, people have had good games and things like that.
"It would be great if we could string a whole team performance together because we are not a million miles away but are still a mile or two away.
"It would be good to try and finish with two wins, and that would be a fairer reflection of how we have played."
