Gushue qualifies for curling playoffs at Beijing Games, Jones still in the hunt

BEIJING — Canada's Brad Gushue leaned on the divider by the side of the curling sheet Wednesday as humidifiers pumped mist into the air beside him. 

Waiting for practice to begin, he glanced over at the two games still being played at the Ice Cube. He also took a gander at the far sheet that gave him fits a night earlier. 

By the end of session, he conquered two challenges. Gushue had qualified for the playoffs and he figured out the ice. 

Not bad for an off-day on the round-robin schedule.

"It's a big stress relief to be honest," Gushue said.

The Canadian men's team secured a semifinal berth thanks to the results from the afternoon draw. 

China's Xiuyue Ma edged Switzerland's Peter de Cruz 6-5 and Great Britain's Bruce Mouat defeated Russia's Sergey Glukhov 8-6. With Russia and Switzerland both at five losses, it cleared the qualification route for 5-3 Canada.

In women's play, Canada's Jennifer Jones split her games on the day but still had a chance of making the playoffs.  

She beat American Tabitha Peterson 7-6 in the morning but dropped an 11-9, extra-end decision to China's Yu Han in the evening. 

Jones will take a 4-4 record into Thursday's round-robin finale against Denmark's Madeleine Dupont. 

Canada was tied in fourth place with Great Britain's Eve Muirhead and South Korea's EunJung Kim. The top four teams in the 10-team field will reach the semifinals. 

Once Gushue learned he had made the cut, he shifted focus to figuring out the curl on Sheet D. It was something he struggled with a night earlier in a 7-6 loss to Russia.

"I'm a little pissed off right now," Gushue said. "There was significant curl out there today. For it to go as bad as it did last night, it's really disappointing because it had a huge impact. It was such a neutralizer."

The Ice Cube venue — originally built for aquatic events at the 2008 Summer Games — was converted to a four-sheet curling facility for the Beijing Winter Games.

Unlike traditional ice venues, the high-roofed, shoebox-style building wasn't built with big air-handling units and large ducts. 

Icemaker Hans Wuthrich said the refrigeration system is excellent, but he has used humidifier units — a rarity for curling — to find the right air moisture level. 

Temperature changes have also had an effect on ice consistency. 

Gushue shot a game-low 61 per cent on takeouts against Russia. He was pleased there was over six feet of curl at practice, about twice as much as the day before. 

"Why it couldn't be like that last night I don't know," Gushue said. "But it's frustrating. It was great to practise out there (today) and see some rocks curling."

Sweden's Niklas Edin (7-1) was tied for top spot in the men's draw with Great Britain. Canada was alone in third place and American John Shuster was fourth at 4-4.

China and Russia were 4-5 while Switzerland, Italy's Joel Retornaz and Norway's Steffen Walstad were 3-5. 

Gushue is scheduled to close out his round-robin schedule Thursday against Great Britain in what will be a playoff warm-up for both teams.

"We haven't been our best, but we haven't quit," Gushue said. "We've fought and we've kept a good attitude."

Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni (7-1) locked up first place in the women's standings. 

Sweden's Anna Hasselborg (6-2) secured a playoff berth with an 8-5 win over Russia's Alina Kovaleva. In other night games, South Korea beat Denmark 8-7 and Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa topped the United States 10-7. 

Japan was alone in third place at 5-3 but had yet to qualify for the playoffs.

The first tiebreaker at the Games is head-to-head record. Pre-game draw shot challenge statistics could be used if more than two teams are tied.

The men's semifinals are scheduled for Thursday night. The women's semifinals will be played Friday evening.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2022. 

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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press