GUSHUE STAYS UNDEFEATED
CANADIAN RINK IMPROVES TO 9-0 AT WORLDS
Two victories Wednesday locks up playoff spot for Newfoundland foursome —
The numbers are in Brad Gushue’s favour at the Ford World Men’s Curling Championship.
He posted impressive wins over Jaap Van Dorp of the Netherlands and Japan’s Yusuke Morozumi on Wednesday to extend his unbeaten streak to nine games. Gushue has outscored his opponents 77-29 overall and games have been called early on seven occasions.
Each early finish will help Gushue and his team stay fresh for the playoffs. The St. John’s skip, who has secured a berth in the Page playoff 12 game, is still bothered by a hip/groin injury so any saved throws are welcomed.
“It’s a huge positive,” Gushue said. “The less I can be on it the better, to be honest. At this point I don’t need more reps or more volume. I feel comfortable with the ice and I feel comfortable with how I’m throwing it.
“So if I can keep the fatigue down and be ready come the weekend, I think that’s a positive.”
Gushue’s 8-3 victory in the morning was followed by a 10-2 rout in the afternoon.
Niklas Edin improved to 7-1 with a 6-4 victory over Scotland’s David Murdoch and Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz (7-1) joined the Swedish skip in second place after a 6-4 win over Joel Retornaz of Italy (4-4).
John Shuster (5-3) of the United States moved into sole possession of fourth place after an 8-5 victory over Germany’s Alexander Baumann.
Morozumi (5-4) fell into fifth place with the loss. China’s Rui Liu (4-4) kept his playoff hopes alive by edging Norway’s Steffen Walstad 7-6 in an extra end.
The top four teams will make the playoffs.
In the early game, Gushue opened with a three-point first end. Van Dorp was held to a single in the fourth and Gushue tacked on a deuce in the fifth end.
The Dutch side scored two points in the seventh but Gushue replied with a pair to wrap things up in eight ends.
Against Japan, Gushue’s five-point fourth end put the game out of reach. He iced it with a deuce in the seventh.