7 April 2024
Sweden crowned World Men’s champions
Olympic champions Sweden beat Canada by 6-5 in Sunday afternoon’s gold medal final to claim the LGT World Men’s Championship 2024 title.
These two teams had emerged as the top two from the round-robin phase. As table-toppers, Sweden started this final with last-stone advantage.
After blanking the first end, Sweden’s Niklas Edin opened the scoring in the second, taking two and then stealing a single in the third, to take a 3-0 lead.
In the fourth end, Canada’s skip Brad Gushue played a hit to score two and reduce the Swedish lead to 3-2.
In the sixth, with his team still leading by 3-2, Edin drew his final stone onto the button to score one more point and extend their lead to 4-2.
In the seventh end, Gushue produced a nose-hit to score one and again reduce the Swedish lead, to 4-3.
However, in the eighth, Edin responded with a draw for one, moving the score to 5-3.
In the ninth end, Gushue played a delicate tap to score two and get back on terms, at 5-5.
But, in the tenth, Edin was successful with a difficult wide draw to score one point for 6-5 and the world title.
For Edin and third Oskar Eriksson, this triumph was a record-breaking seventh world title.
After the game, Edin said, “It feels indescribable! It feels so good after this week. We played so well all week, we just played maybe the best championship we ever have.”
And about his tense final draw, he said, “I was confident I could make it.”
Meanwhile Canada’s Gushue was gracious in defeat. He said, “We forced him into a tough one but credit to him, he made a great shot. No better way to win a world championship.”
He added, “To be second in the world, you have to be proud of what we did, but it’s just disappointing.”
The gold medal winning Swedish team are skip Niklas Edin, third Oskar Eriksson, second Rasmus Wranaa and lead Christoffer Sundgren, supported by alternate Daniel Magnusson and coach Alexander Lindstroem.
The silver medal winning Canadian team are skip Brad Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker, supported by alternate Kyle Doering and coach Caleb Flaxey.
Earlier on Sunday, Italy won bronze medals after beating Scotland by 7-6.
The bronze medal winning Italian team are skip Joel Retornaz, third Amos Mosaner, second Sebastiano Arman and lead Mattia Giovanella, supported by alternate Francesco De Zanna and coach Ryan Fry.
During the Closing Ceremony, it was announced that the Collie Campbell Memorial Award went to Chris Plys from United States. The award is voted on by the competitors and awarded to the player who “best exemplifies the traditional curling values of skill, fair play and sportsmanship”.
Click here for all the results from the championship.
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