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BEIJING — The students schooled the teacher on Sunday in mixed doubles curling at the Beijing Games.

It could prove to be a costly lesson for Canada's John Morris and Rachel Homan, who now must beat undefeated Italy in their round-robin finale just to make the playoffs.

A semifinal appearance seemed like a good bet for Canada after a thrilling 7-5 win over the Czech Republic in the afternoon. But dropping a 10-8 decision to Australia — a team that Morris coached this season — left Canada on the brink of an early exit.

"It's put us in a bit of a pickle here," Morris said. 

The result capped a wild day at the Ice Cube, which saw Great Britain (5-3) and Norway (5-3) join Italy (8-0) on the right side of the cutline. 

A loss for Canada (5-3) on Monday morning would give Sweden (5-4) the final berth, since the latter has the tiebreaker advantage. 

"I think we always had to beat Italy," Homan said. "We've got to win. Our fate is in our own hands."

With the game on the line against the Czechs, Homan needed to draw for a piece of the button to get a deuce and force an extra end. Her view of the time clock was partially obstructed but she managed to get the stone away with one second to spare.  

"I saw a four and I assumed it said 14 (seconds)," Homan said. "So I double-checked with John and he said, 'Go, go, go.'"

Canada won it with a deuce in the extra end. Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul had hammer but Homan made a nice angle bump raise that essentially left the Czechs without a shot.

"Absolutely the most dramatic curling game I've ever been a part of," Morris said. "Just a roller-coaster. We just had to hang tough and just hope for the best."

Canada entered the night game with a chance to qualify for the playoffs with a win and a Sweden or Norway loss.

But Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt opened with a three and stole two points in the second end. Australia led 7-0 at the break before Canada started a furious comeback attempt.

Canada put up four points in the fifth end and tacked on three more in the seventh. Gill rolled out on a hit that could have won the game in the eighth end.

With Australia sitting two in the extra, Homan was heavy on a freeze attempt that ended the game. 

"We were just a little bit slow out of the gate and could never catch up," Morris said.

In other late games, Italy outscored Sweden 12-8, Switzerland edged the United States 6-5 and Norway beat Great Britain 6-2.

Earlier in the day, the Australian Olympic Committee announced that Gill and Hewitt would have to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. However, public health authorities later advised the team that Gill's PCR tests over the past 24 hours fell into an acceptable range, the AOC said.

"I had packed my bags and was prepared to head home," Gill said. 

Gill and Hewitt made the most of their return, topping Switzerland 9-6 for their first win of the competition before knocking off the Canadians.

"It was an incredible feeling once we did find out that we could finally play," Hewitt said.

Gill and Hewitt relocated to Canmore, Alta., last fall for training. They have played some practice games with Morris but this was their first meeting in a competitive setting.

Before the pre-game practice in the afternoon, Morris walked two sheets over to give Gill a fist bump. Afterwards, he gave Hewitt a friendly grab of the shoulder in the media interview area.

Morris put his coaching hat away after helping Australia book its Beijing berth in December. Pete Manasantivongs served as the team's coach at the Games. 

Gill said she got word of the positive test on Sunday morning. The green light came about an hour before game time.

"The medical team had pushed so hard to get my case reviewed just to prove that I'm not infectious," she said. "And I'm not because I had COVID over a month ago. So it's just shedding dead virus really, which is unfortunate. 

"But we followed the process and we were respectful of the rules and just so grateful that we're able to get out here and finish our campaign."

The semifinals are set for Monday night and the medal games will be played Tuesday.

Morris won gold with Kaitlyn Lawes at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in the discipline's Olympic debut. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 6, 2022. 

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press