Sweden’s Edin beats Canada’s Gushue 7-3 for world championship gold
Canada’s Brad Gushue fell a win short of a second straight men’s world curling championship and settled for silver Sunday.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin avenged a loss to Gushue in last year’s world final by dominating Canada 7-3 in the championship game in Las Vegas. Gushue shook hands after eight ends.
Edin’s third career world title is Sweden’s eighth in the 60year history of the tournament.
The 32-year-old from Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, also won gold in 2015 in Halifax and 2013 in Victoria.
Edin, third Oskar Eriksson, second Rasmus Wranaa and lead Christopher Sundgren were silver medallists at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February.
They lost 10-7 to John Shuster of the U.S. in the Olympic final.
Gushue, vice Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker out of the Bally Haly Golf and Country Club in St. John’s, N.L., were attempting to become the fifth team to win back-to-back world titles.
Canada’s Randy Ferbey (2002-03), Don Duguid (197071), Ron Northcott (1968-69) and Ernie Richardson (1959-60, 1962-63) were the others.
But with the 86-year-old Richardson and former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper watching at the Orleans Arena, Gushue trailed 5-0 after five ends against a Swedish team that excels at defence.
Sweden’s strength is bigweight takeouts and forcing the opposition to take a single point in ends in which Edin doesn’t have last-rock advantage.