Photo: Li Hao/GT

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off its first sporting event with curling on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony, at the Beijing National Aquatics Center.

Chinese pair Ling Zhi/Fan Suyuan were the first Olympians from the host nation to enter competition at the Games. Ling and Fan, both playing in their first Winter Games, defeated Martin Rios/Jenny Perret of Switzerland 7-6 in their mixed doubles round robin Session 1 matchup, one of four ties that got underway at 8:05 pm on the first matchday of the Beijing Winter Games. The Swiss pair were silver medalists in the mixed doubles curling four years ago, which was first included in the Winter Olympics at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018.

There will be a total of 147 curling matches during the Beijing Games. And curling is the only sport with competitions scheduled to be held on every single day of the Games until February 20, the day of the closing ceremony. Three curling gold medals are up for grabs. Chinese curlers will compete in all the three tournaments: mixed doubles, men's and women's.

Having adopted the sport less than 20 years ago, Chinese curlers have made remarkable achievements on the international stage. The Chinese women's curling team won bronze in their Olympics debut at the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010. The men's team finished fourth at Sochi 2014, the best performance among all Asian men's teams in the Winter Games.

The Beijing National Aquatics Center, commonly known as the Water Cube - now the Ice Cube - was the venue for aquatics competitions at the Summer Olympic Games in 2008.