Session four of the LGT World Men’s got underway on Sunday afternoon in the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Both Denmark and Italy put their first victories on the board, while Canada and United States stayed undefeated.
Korea versus Denmark
In a back and forth battle, Korea held a 3-2 lead against Denmark after the fifth end break. In the eighth end, Korea made a precise raise take-out to score one and go up 4-3.
The Koreans scored two points in the tenth end to force an extra, 6-6. In the extra, Denmark played a double take-out to score the winning point and secure their first win, 7-6.
United States versus Czech Republic
A close match between the hosts and Czech Republic saw the teams level 2-2 after four ends of play, after United States’ Korey Dropkin made a perfect draw to the button against two. The tables turned in the fifth end, when Czech Republic’s skip Lukas Klima made a draw to the four-foot against five American counters.
Dropkin navigated a small port on his final shot in the eighth end, to pick up two points and a 6-4 lead. Up one with the last stone in the final end, the United States played an open hit for a 7-5 win.
‘The ice conditions were quite nice,” said Korey Dropkin. “Theres some spots where if you don’t play on it for some time, it will get frosty so we got caught on those a couple of times. But we just needed to take a little bit extra ice and we got used to it. We made a lot of draws and we were able to come out on top.”
Netherlands versus Canada
The Dutch team started off well against Canada, with a 2-0 lead after two ends. Their fortune continued in the fifth end, when Canada’s Brad Gushue faced a draw against two, which picked up debris, resulting in a steal of two and a 5-2 lead.
The Canadians bounced back with two in the sixth, followed by a steal of one in the seventh, when Netherlands missed a tap-back for a possible three points.
But, the fortune went to the Canadians in the eighth end, when Netherlands skip Wouter Goesgens was light on his draw against three, giving the Canadians a big 8-5 lead. Canada went on to win 9-6, to secure their third straight win.
Sweden versus Italy
In the final game of the session, Italy opened with a 2-0 lead against Sweden after two ends. In the third, Sweden’s Niklas Edin made a highlight reel shot for three, when he played a triple raise.
In the eighth end, Edin played a double to force Italy into a short tap-back for a single point to tie the game, 6-6.
Needing two to tie, or three to win in the tenth, Italy played a perfect double take-out to score four and win their first game so far, 10-8.
Italy ski[, Joel Retornaz said after their win, “Both teams had a tough start – we both struggled with the ice in the beginning. So it was a bit of a rollercoaster this game, so we’re happy we managed to win this one. It’s an important win for us, every win is important out here but beating the Olympic champs especially with a strong performance in the end is important and gives us confidence.”
Session four scores: Korea 6-7 Denmark; United States 7-5 Czech Republic; Netherlands 6-9 Canada; Sweden 8-10 Italy
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