The Great Britain mixed doubles wheelchair curlers have suffered a setback in their bid to reach the Winter Paralympic semi-finals after a 10-5 defeat by unbeaten China.
However, a win for Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean in their final round-robin game against hosts Italy on Monday (13:35 GMT) will still secure a last-four spot.
A defeat would leave them having to rely on other results to progress.
The GB pair came into Sunday’s match in Cortina full of confidence on the back of three consecutive wins.
And after a dream start, in which they led China 3-0 after the opening end and 5-1 after three of the eight ends, they were dreaming of a famous victory.
But China roared back, cutting the lead to 5-3 in the fourth end before taking a steal of two in the fifth end – where GB had both the powerplay and the hammer – and then showing their skill to take three in the next where GB again had the advantage of the last stone.
Butterfield and Kean were left chasing the game and slipped further behind in the sixth end and when China scored a further two in the penultimate end, they conceded with one end to play.