Canada's Gushue defeats Netherlands to remain unbeaten at men's curling worlds
CBC
Challenging ice conditions left player confidence at a premium on Sunday at the world men's curling championship.
Brad Gushue's Canada team (3-0) managed to overcome the hurdles and used a steal of three in the eighth end for a 9-6 win over Wouter Goesgens of the Netherlands.
"Standings-wise we're really happy," Gushue said. "Playing-wise we're not as sharp."
The St. John's-based squad of Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker had a first half to forget, complete with a pre-game last-stone draw of 199.1 centimetres, by far the worst of the tournament.
Gushue nosed a hit-and-roll attempt in the second end for a Dutch steal. He gave up another deuce in the fifth end when his stone crashed into a guard.
"I threw two really good rocks and it made me look like I was a Monday night club curler," Gushue said. "But the ice is just that way and it came back to bite them in the eighth end too."
WATCH l Gushue leads Canada past the Netherlands:
With percentages down and the Dutch rink up 5-2, Gushue's side talked things over in the fifth-end break. Canada was determined to apply more pressure in the second half and it worked.
"There's going to be misses out there but let's try to limit them and try to battle," Walker said. "The big thing is believing that we're going to make the next one."
Gushue scored two in the sixth end and tied the game with a steal in the seventh. Goesgens' first-half momentum had disappeared and his light throw against three in the eighth end turned the game.
"We're throwing some really nice rocks and we're just looking like we haven't curled before," Gushue said. "But it is ice related. It's disappointing for a world championship to have it this way."
Hot temperatures outdoors haven't helped the ice quality inside the nearly empty 9,500-seat arena, which hosted this event in 2018. There has been plenty of curl but overall consistency has been an issue.
"It's going to be a long week," Gushue said. "We're going to have a lot more games like we had today where you're just going to have to have damage limitation."
All four Canadians brought their shooting percentages up to at least 80 per cent. But their trademark confidence wasn't always there.