It’s good to be lucky in Vegas
Brad Gushue and Team Canada steal a point in the 10th end to squeak past Italians
As was pointed out at the beginning of the movie Ocean’s 11, it’s not often someone manages to pull off a successful robbery in Las Vegas.
But Brad Gushue fashioned a little thievery there on Monday afternoon.
Gushue and his Team Canada rink from St. John’s stole a point in the 10th end to scrape out an 8-7 win over Italy’s Joel Retornaz in the Canadians’ lone game on Day 3 of the men’s world curling championship.
The Italians had the hammer in the 10th end, with the score tied 7-7, but with Gushue counting two in the rings, Retornaz and Amos Mosaner, who throws fourth for Italy, opted to play a double takeout instead of drawing to the four-foot rings for the winning point.
The move didn’t pay off. Moasner just grazed Canada’s shot stone, leaving it as the counter and giving the Canadians the victory.
The result gave Gushue and his defending champions a record of 3-1, putting them in a tie for third with China, South Korea and Scotland, behind Sweden and Norway, who were 4-0.
Canada and Scotland didn’t play Monday night, but the other teams in the top six did have games in the late draw.
The Canadian rink — which also includes Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker — was up 4-1 after three ends, but the Italians were ahead 6-5 after the sixth, when Gushue’s attempted double takeout didn’t pan out and his shooter rolled wide, leaving Mosaner with a draw for three to give his team a 6-5 lead.
Canada got a single in the seventh, giving the Italians the hammer again in the eighth. In that end, Retornaz ticked on a Canadian guard, and after Gushue’s last shot, there were five Canadian stones in the rings, but Mosaner avoided potential catastrophe by making his draw for a 7-6 lead.
Gushue had a chance to take the lead in the ninth end when the Italians’ last rock rolled out of the rings on a hit, but he also lost his shooter on an open hit for the deuce and took one, setting up the drama of the 10th.
By getting the steal, and the win, Gushue avoided the repeat of a loss a dozen years ago,
That’s when Retornaz beat Gushue 7-6 in an extra end during the preliminary round at the 2006 Olympic Games, although Gushue, whose Canadian team also included Nichols, went on to win the gold medal in Turin, Italy.
Canada plays twice today, in the morning and afternoon draws against Korea and Japan, respectively.
The top six teams in the preliminary round advance to playoffs with the top two getting byes to the Saturday’s semifinals. Teams three to six square off in the quarter-finals earlier Saturday.