Men's curling at Beijing 2022 Olympics Day 4 round-up: Undefeated Sweden top Canada as US fall to Norway
Sweden continued their perfect run at Beijing 2022 to go 4-0 following victory over Canada while defending champions United States lost out to Norway after a tenth end gamble backfired.
Curling
Pre-tournament favourites Canada and United States were felled by Sweden and Norway on a titillating fourth day of action in the men’s curling tournament at Beijing 2022 on Saturday (12 February).
Skip Niklas Edin continued his unbeaten run in the Ice Cube after downing his Canadian counterpart Brad Gushue 7-4 in today's hotly anticipated round-robin match-up.
A series of critical misses from Canada's skip all but handed the game to Sweden.
On three occasions in the eighth, ninth and tenth ends – the so-called business ‘ends’ of the game – Gushue failed to transform opportunities to score big and go in front.
Deep into the ninth, a heavy final draw shot from the Canadian left the button free and Edin didn’t hesitate to claim the spot and the one-point score to go up 6-4 into final end.
Needing a score of two or more to force an extra end, or to claim the win, the Canadian once more had the chance to seize control. But once again, a failed double take-out shot from with the last rock of the game meant it was Sweden with the steal and the win.
Edin is currently on the hunt for an Olympic gold – the one accolade missing from his extensive medal collection - and today’s victory over curling powerhouse Canada marked an important step towards that goal.
For Gushue, however, the loss marks his second in-a-row after falling yesterday to Switzerland. The 41-year-old is back in Canadian colours after skipping his country to gold at Turin 2006.
MORE: Niklas Edin, the skip with unfinished business still searching for Olympic glory
Beijing 2022 men's curling round up: United States lose out to Norway
Defending Olympic champions United States also suffered a second shock blow to their title defence campaign after coming short in a tense battle against Norway.
The Norwegians, who lost to Great Britain in yesterday, took control of the game in the sixth end when they got a two-point steal after US skip John Shuster missed a draw for one.
Though down 6-3 heading into the seventh, it didn’t take the Americans too long to respond hitting back with their own score of two to cut the score deficit to one.
After deliberately blanking the ninth end in order to retain the hammer heading into the tenth and final end, the task before Shushter was simple: score two to tie, or three to win.
Already lying one, rather than draw for two to go into an extra end, the US skip decided on a takeout shot that would give his team the victory there and then.
The calculation, however, backfired meaning the US were only able to score one handing Norway the win, 7-6. They now sit 2-2.
Elsewhere, Switzerland backed-up their win against Canada with an 8-6 victory over Denmark to sit 3-1 overall and second in the round-robin table.
The Danes along with Italy, who lost 9-12 to People’s Republic of China, are still both win-less in the round-robin so far.
They will return to the Ice Cube tomorrow morning to try and rectify that in the first of the day’s two sessions.
Denmark will take on Britain while Italy face ROC.
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Men’s curling at Beijing 2022 Olympics Day 4 results in full:
- Italy 9-12 People's Republic of China
- Canada 4-7 Sweden
- Switzerland 8-6 Denmark
- Norway 7-6 United States of America
You can find the round robin standings after today’s action here.
A reminder that the top four teams after the round-robin proceedings will progress through to the semi-finals. The subsequent winners of those matches will then face off for the Olympic gold medal.
Schedule: Curling at Beijing 2022 Olympics Day 5
Here is the schedule for Sunday 13 February (all times local China Standard Time):
- 09:05 Men's Round Robin Session 6 - Norway v Sweden
- 09:05 Men's Round Robin Session 6 - People's Republic of China v Great Britain
- 09:05 Men's Round Robin Session 6 - United States v Canada
- 09:05 Men's Round Robin Session 6 - Italy v ROC
- 20:05 Men's Round Robin Session 7 - Great Britain v Denmark
- 20:05 Men's Round Robin Session 7 - Switzerland v Italy
- 20:05 Men's Round Robin Session 7 - People's Republic of China v United States of America