Mark Ideson's Canada defeated China and Switzerland in wheelchair curling today ©Getty Images

Mark Ideson's Canada finished the first day of the wheelchair curling round-robin with two victories at the National Aquatics Centre, which involved a defeat of defending champions China at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games.

Momentum was firmly on his rink's side in the opening session when they defeated Wang Haitao's China 7-3.

Wang has skipped his home nation to the 2021 world title as well as the Pyeongchang 2018 gold medal.

After exchanging points, the breakthrough for the Canadians was a score of three in the fourth end followed by a steal in the next.

Another score of two in the seventh end ensured the victory.

A second win came in the evening match against Laurent Kneubühl's Switzerland, which finished 8-4.

Two scores of three were the difference between Canada and their opponents.

Kneubühl's side struggled earlier in the day too against another set of medal contenders after Viljo Pettersson-Dahl's Sweden won 9-1.

Viljo Pettersson-Dahl's Sweden thrashed Switzerland 9-1 in their first match ©Getty Images
Viljo Pettersson-Dahl's Sweden thrashed Switzerland 9-1 in their first match ©Getty Images

Hugh Nibloe's Britain recorded their first win by beating Matthew Thums' United States 10-6, aided by a last-end steal of three.

They had previously lost 7-5 to the 2018 Paralympic silver medallists Norway, skipped by Jostein Stordahl.

Radoslav Duris' Slovakia also defeated the Americans earlier in the day 9-3.

Finally, Polina Rozkova's Latvia won in their first match 8-4 against Go Seung-nam's South Korea.