9 April 2023
Scotland, Canada to meet in World Men’s final
Italy faced Norway in Saturday afternoon’s qualification game, with the winner going on to play Scotland in the semi-final.
The other qualification game saw hosts, Canada, face defending champions Sweden, with the winner going on to play Switzerland in the other semi-final.
In the first end of the game between Norway and Italy, Norway skip Magnus Ramsfjell faced two Italian stones but managed to draw inside them both to open the scoring with one point. In the ninth end, Italy’s Joel Retornaz played a tap-back for two and an 8-4 lead. Norway then conceded and Italy went on to face Scotland in the semi-finals.
After this win, Retornaz spoke about his winning shot, saying, “We didn’t have anything else to play, so we knew we could get to the shot, just at the right speed and the right line.”
Canada v Sweden
In the first end of the game between Canada and Sweden, Canada’s skip Brad Gushue had an open draw for two points. By the seventh end, Canada led by 4-1 when Sweden’s Edin attempted a raise take-out, but got the angles wrong, to give up a steal of three and increase the Canadian lead to 7-1. Canada then had another steal of two in the eighth to win by 9-1 and advance to the semi-finals against Switzerland.
Gushue said, “Having the crowd on our side has definitely helped us. It’s given us a little bit more intensity, a little more energy.”
Canada v Switzerland semi-final
In a back and forth battle that saw single points traded through the first six ends, the game was tied 3-3. In the seventh end, Gushue played a nose-hit to score two points and take a 5-3 lead. Switzerland scored two right back in the eighth end, with a hit and roll to level the game, 5-5. The Canadians went on to win by 7-5 when fourth thrower Benoit Schwarz was heavy with his last stone of the tenth end.
“This week has been fun, it’s been special, said Gushue. “The way we’ve been treated and celebrated by Ottawa, it’s been a lot of fun no matter what happens tomorrow, but certainly we’d like to finish it off.”
Italy v Scotland
In another tight affair, the Italians led 4-2 after four ends, with a controlled draw by Retornaz. Scotland began to claw back, earning deuces in ends five, seven, and nine, while forcing Italy to single points until the tenth end.
© WCF / Steve Seixeiro
With the last stone of the tenth end, with the Scots now leading by 8-6, Italy’s Retornaz attempted a split at the front, to score a game-winning three points. However, he could only score two – after a measure for the third point – to tie the game at 8-8 and force an extra end. In that extra end, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat drew to the eight-foot for the one point, for a 9-8 win and a place in the final.
Engage with the World Curling Federation during the BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championship 2023 on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Weibo and be searching the hashtags #curling #WMCC2023
