Canada's Brad Gushue loses 2nd straight in men's curling at Beijing Games
Team from St. John’s now has 2-2 record following loss to Sweden
After winning two in a row to open the Olympic men's curling competition, Brad Gushue's Canadian rink has now lost back-to-back games.
A battle of pre-tournament favourites between Canada and Sweden saw the Canadians fall just short in dropping a 7-4 decision on Saturday at the Ice Cube in Beijing.
"My team played well. I thought personally I struggled today, I didn't play my best, and I feel like I let the team down a little bit. But I'll be better tomorrow," Gushue said.
"It wasn't fun losing, but I certainly had fun. We had a few struggles but it's a great atmosphere, it's great to be here. Hopefully we can still play a little bit better."
Switzerland edged Canada 5-3 on Friday to hand Gushue's rink their first loss in Beijing.
WATCH | Brad Gushue's Canada stumbles against Sweden:
There are 10 nations in the men's curling tournament, with each team playing nine games. The top four at the end of the round robin advance to the medal round.
Canada's next game is against the U.S. on Saturday at 8:05 p.m. ET.
"I would feel better if we had won, but we lost to two very good teams. We can't hang our hats, still a lot of curling left to do," Gushue said.
"I just personally have to play better. That was a weak game for me and I know if I play the way I'm capable of playing we will be in good shape."
Gushue and Mark Nichols, who won Olympic gold in 2006 in Turin, are joined on this Canadian squad by first-time Olympians Geoff Walker and Brett Gallant. Swedish skip Niklas Edin is a five-time world champion, and a two-time Olympic medallist (bronze in 2014 in Sochi, and silver in 2018 in Pyeongchang).
WATCH | Craig McMorris joins That Curling Show to call some iconic shots:
"It was a tough game out there, but it felt we had the upper hand most of the way. We're really happy we got away with a win," Edin said of his team's win over Canada.
"There were a lot of turning points, a lot of small things changing the whole complexion of the game, then both teams running low on time ... I think that the whole game was kind of back and forth a little bit in terms of chances and momentum."
Gushue was uncharacteristically erratic with his weight control through the opening few ends as the Swedes edged out in front. After running into some trouble early without the hammer, Canada recovered enough to force a blank in the first end. Another force by the Canadians in the following end allowed them to gain the hammer as Sweden scored one.
Canada squandered a chance to possibly score two after Gushue flashed an open hit with his first stone of the third end which ended in the game's second blank. Edin's perfect draw to the button with his last stone of the fourth end meant Sweden was lying two. Gushue's skip stone cleared one of the rocks, but Sweden managed to steal one to go up 2-0.
A chat during the commercial break.<br><br>They felt Brad’s 1st shot in 4,the comearound draw,was the right weight. Just reassuring him as the skipper struggles a bit.<br><br>Sweden leads 2-0 on Canada in 5th after that steal.<br>Here are the stats…and yes, Geoff Wilson is perfect.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbccurl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cbccurl</a> <a href="https://t.co/vzNnIu3W5P">pic.twitter.com/vzNnIu3W5P</a>
—@cbccolleenjonesA fantastic double take-out by Gushue on his second skip stone set the table for him to draw for a deuce with his final rock to finally get Canada on the scoreboard and tie things up. Edin managed to get those two right back when he scored a deuce with his final skip stone in the sixth end following Gushue's miss for the double.
With an outside chance of scoring two with the hammer, Canada called a timeout to discuss shot selection before its final skip stone of the seventh end. But Gushue's double take-out missed and the Swedes stole one.
The Canadian skip made amends in the eighth end, capitalizing on some suspect Swedish shots with a raise with his ship stone to score two, although he had a chance at three. Gushue's last skip stone was heavy in the ninth, opening the door for Edin to draw to the button to score one and put the Swedes up 6-4.
After Edin played a freeze with his final rock, Gushue tried to score three but his skip stone missed as the Swedes stole one to seal the victory.
"I don't think we're going to be too confident — we've not won this event yet. We had three tries, and done really well, but we still need to go all the way," Edin said of Sweden's 4-0 record.
In other men's action from Saturday, China beat Italy 12-9, Switzerland defeated Denmark 8-6, and Norway edged the U.S. 7-6.
On the women's side, Canadian Jennifer Jones is attempting to win her second Olympic gold medal after reaching the top of the podium in 2014 in Sochi. Canada lost its second straight game on Saturday, falling 7-6 on a measurement in the final end to defending champions Anna Hasselborg and Sweden. Jones and the Canadians return to action against Switzerland on Sunday at 1:05 a.m. ET.
WATCH | Jennifer Jones' Canadian women's team drops 2nd straight in Beijing:
