Dunstone remains winless after suffering 3rd loss at Canada's Olympic curling trials
CBC
Matt Dunstone tried to keep his dissatisfaction in check as his winless team toiled through another loss Monday at Canada's Olympic curling trials in Saskatoon.
When he walked through the dark curtain near the end boards at SaskTel Centre after a 10-3 defeat to Kevin Koe, the frustration finally boiled over.
Dunstone smacked his broom on the concrete floor so hard that the head flew off. The young skip then took a few questions from reporters knowing the main theme would be that his 0-3 start left him a longshot to make the playoffs.
The partisan crowd of 8,217 did its best to cheer on the lone Saskatchewan-based team in the field.
A brilliant runback double-takeout for a deuce brought the crowd to life in the third end but the game turned on a picked stone in the fifth that left Koe with a takeout to score four.
"We're not really catching any breaks right now to say the least," Dunstone said. "We're doing a lot of good things. We're really close on absolutely everything."
Dunstone threw at a 61-per cent clip, by far the lowest percentage of the eight players.
His rink, still adjusting to the addition of Colton Lott at third after Braeden Moskowy's withdrawal on the eve of the competition, shot 83 per cent overall. Koe's team finished at 92 per cent.
Kirk Muyres, Dunstone's second, was feeling more optimistic because he could feel that progression was being made despite the lopsided score line.
"The tide is kind of turning a little bit," he said. "Of course it didn't work today, but against this team you could play 95 per cent and still lose."
Brendan Bottcher's team was left with the same 0-3 record after dropping a 5-2 decision to Brad Jacobs. Bottcher won the national men's championship last season but has yet to get on track at this event.
WATCH | Jacobs takes 3rd victory in a row with win over Bottcher:
Bottcher's third, Darren Moulding, fought back tears shortly after starting his media availability.
"It's disappointing," he said before pausing for several seconds. "We'll be all right. We'll be fine. We're not out of it but we've got to find something. We're going to have to probably win out.