Japan had a strong start in their evening match against Hong Kong, stealing three points in the first end, and they kept up the pressure to win 12-2.

In the morning session they had put together a similarly impressive 13-3 win over Kazkhstan.

Afterwards Japan skip Satsuki Fujisawa, a member of the side that won bronze at this year’s Pyeongchang Winter Games, said: "This venue brings back the feelings of the Olympics, where we had very good moments, and especially the atmosphere and the supporters brought back these feelings."

China maintained their strong start to the Championship by beating Kazakhstan 9-0, having beaten Qatar 25-0 in their morning match.

Elsewhere in the evening session hosts South Korea earned their second win of the day, 16-0 over Qatar, having beaten Australia 9-3 in the morning.

In the men’s games played during the afternoon session, Kazakhstan secured their first win of the competition when they defeated Chinese Taipei 12-5.

Afterwards, a delighted Kazakhstan skip, Viktor Kim, said, "For the first time in Kazakhstan’s curling we have a win against a strong team.

"We are in curling for 15 years, but only in the last four years we are practising.

"We don't have ice, but thank you everybody, everybody teaching us, all the Koreans, Chinese teams, we are friends.

"Curling is a friendship."

Something had to give when unbeaten sides China and Japan faced each other, and in the end it was China who prevailed with a 9-5 win.

The hosts won a dramatic match against Hong Kong 10-6, and in the session’s final game, New Zealand defeated Qatar 8-4.

The men return to the ice to continue this event tomorrow morning.