Hasselborg beats Jones, Edin tops Gushue as Canadian curling teams fall to Sweden

BEIJING — Brad Gushue stood at the side of the sheet with his hands on his hips, a grimace etched on his face as he cast a look back at the scoreboard.

Another end had slipped away. Another tick was in the loss column. 

Gushue's final shot to tie the game - and possibly win it - was off the mark, the latest misstep in a 7-4 loss to Sweden's Niklas Edin that left the frustrated Canadian skip searching for answers.

"I'm pissed off to be honest," Gushue said. "That was a poor performance by me. I put that on my shoulders 100 per cent. 

"That's as bad as a game as I've played in a long time."

Gushue was 47 per cent on draws and threw 57 per cent overall, by far the lowest numbers of the eight players on the ice. 

Sweden shot 88 per cent as a team to 83 per cent for Canada.

"I felt like I let the team down," Gushue said. "I thought they played well enough for us to win or at least have a chance - which we did at the end - but I missed too many shots today."

It was a somewhat similar finish to Sweden's 7-6 win over Canada in the women's round-robin draw in the morning.

Just like the men, the Swedish women struggled at times in the 10th end and Canada nearly took advantage. Anna Hasselborg escaped when Jennifer Jones had a chance to score three but settled for one.

The results left both Canadian teams with two losses apiece. A third defeat would essentially shift things into must-win mode at the Ice Cube.

While not time to panic just yet, the pressure is mounting if Canada wants to return to the Olympic team curling podium for the first time since 2014.

"I just didn't get results," Gushue said. "So I've just got to be a little bit sharper."

Jones, meanwhile, went for a thin double with her final throw, the Canadian side assuming it had second shot stone for the tie if it didn't work out.

The assumption proved costly. Her final stone overcurled slightly and a measurement confirmed the Swedish rock on the edge of the eight-foot ring was closer.

"I was surprised the measure didn't go our way," said Canada vice Kaitlyn Lawes. "I'm actually still pretty shocked about that.

"I would have bet my house that we were sitting second shot there."

The Swedes were under pressure after two stones picked earlier in the end. Third Sara McManus helped her side by making a delicate hit and roll that almost froze on the button.

Hasselborg put her last shot at the back of the eight-foot near two Canadian stones. Jones hit the shot stone and rolled wide, needing a little bump or two to move the Swedish rock back. 

Instead the shooter caught the Canadian rock thick for the lone point.

"It wasn't that far off," Jones said. "I thought we were second shot so I was thinking that we were going (to) an extra (end) and unfortunately we weren't."

Sweden improved to 2-1 and Canada slipped to 1-2.

"For sure, we got a lucky break," said Sweden coach Wayne Middaugh. "Jen doesn’t miss that shot, ever. That was real fortunate for us."

Hasselborg made a delicate split for three in the fifth end for a lead she wouldn't relinquish.

"It's a big roller-coaster," she said. "So many things happen in an 10-end game. You've just got to see every shot as it is and play it."

Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni and American Tabitha Peterson, both unbeaten at 3-0, were idle for the morning draw. 

Jones was idle in the evening. Japan, South Korea and Sweden entered the late draw tied in third place at 2-1. Canada, Denmark and Great Britain were 1-2 ahead of China and Russia at 0-3.

"I don't think we're going to be able afford too many more losses," Jones said. "So we're going to have to figure out ways to win some games here."

The Canadian men's team hung around against Sweden despite some inconsistency.

Gushue made it a one-point game with a deuce in the eighth end but Edin drew the button in the ninth against three. 

Both teams felt time pressure in the 10th end. 

Edin had three seconds left on the clock when he delivered a freeze on the edge of the button between two Canadian rocks. Gushue tried to pick it out but was well wide. 

Sweden leads the men's round-robin standings at 4-0. Switzerland's Peter de Cruz was 3-1 and Great Britain's Bruce Mouat was 2-1. 

Gushue fell into a five-way tie for fourth place at 2-2 with China, Norway, Russia and the United States.

"We don't have a whole lot of wiggle room and we've got a lot of good teams to play," Gushue said. "So time to get to work."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2022. 

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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press