Norway has Simmons’ number again at world men’s championship
HALIFAX — Canada will have to take the long road to get to the gold-medal game at the world men’s curling championship.
Pat Simmons dropped a 7-6 decision to Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud in the Page playoff 1-2 game Friday night at Scotiabank Centre. The win sent the defending champion straight to Sunday’s final while Simmons will have to win a semifinal today in order to play for the title.
“We’ve got to battle back here,” said Canada third John Morris. “If we can play like we did tonight and just capitalize on those opportunities, I like our chances here still.”
Ulsrud hit a draw to the fourfoot to score one in the extra end of a rollicking back-and-forth game that could have gone either way. Simmons will play the winner of today’s 3-4 game between Finland’s Aku Kauste and Sweden’s Niklas Edin.
Simmons nearly won the game in the 10th end. He made a hit for one to tie it and almost scored a second point, but his stone just rolled out. “It’s a matter of grinning and bearing it and dealing with it,” Simmons said of the loss. “We’ll have to play a really good game tomorrow and that’s just the way it goes.”
Kauste defeated American John Shuster in a tiebreaker game earlier Friday to secure the fourth seed. The semifinal loser will meet the 3-4 game loser for the bronze medal on Sunday.
Both Canada and Norway finished round robin play with 10-1 records, but Ulsrud took the top seed since he beat Simmons in their lone head-to-head round robin meeting.
The Norwegian skip had hammer in the first end and he used it to make a draw to the fourfoot for the early lead. Simmons answered with a hit and stay for a deuce in the second.
Ulsrud pulled even in the third and after a blanked end, put pressure on Simmons in the fifth. Norway was laying three, but the Canadian skip coolly hit the button for a 3-2 lead.
The Canadian team shot at 85 per cent and Simmons was at 81 per cent.