Lawes one win from mixed medal

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/02/2018 (2820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

GANGNEUNG — Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes is just one more win away from her second Olympic medal — and just two more wins from her second Olympic gold.

Lawes, playing the new Olympic event of mixed doubles curling for Canada here with John Morris, won her sixth straight game Sunday morning Korea time, 7-3 over South Korea, to finish the round-robin alone in first place at 6-1.

Lawes and Morris advance to Monday’s semifinal where they will play either China or Norway with a berth in Tuesday’s gold medal game hanging in the balance.

A win Monday would mean Canada could do no worse than a silver medal, while even a loss would still give Canada a second chance to pick up some Olympic hardware in the bronze-medal game, also set for Tuesday.

China and Norway finished the round-robin tied for fourth at 4-3 and will play a tiebreaker game here Sunday night to determine who will advance to face Canada.

Monday’s other semifinal will see Switzerland play Olympic Athletes from Russia.

By finishing first overall, Canada will have the advantage of hammer throughout the playoffs.

Lawes and Morris appear to be peaking at exactly the right time as they both seek over the next two days to add to the Olympic golds they already own — Lawes won in Sochi as third for Jennifer Jones while Morris won in Vancouver as third for Kevin Martin.

Lawes said those previous Olympic experiences will serve her team well in the semifinal. “We’ve played a lot of games in a lot of pressure situations,” said Lawes. “And I think the best thing about our team is we’re patient and we learn from our mistakes.

“We know we’re not going to be perfect but if we can find ways to be that much better each time, we’re going to find the wins out there.”

After losing their opening game here last Thursday to Norway, Lawes and Morris have run the table and are doing their best curling right now heading into the playoffs.

They’re not only winning, they’re blowing teams out, forcing their opponents to concede early in their last five games in a row — three times after just six ends.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

It is both exactly where they want to be but also a reminder of how little reward teams at the Olympics receive for finishing first overall in the round-robin, forced as they are to play the same sudden-death semifinal as a fourth place opponent that will be limping into the playoffs through a tiebreaker game.

Morris said he prefers the playoff systems used in Canada, either the Page Playoff — where first place teams get two chances to make the final — or a lesser used three-team system that gives the first place team a bye to the final while the second and third place teams play a semifinal.

But it is what it is, said Morris. “We’ve been used to this at the Olympics for many years and we knew it was the case going in. So that’s where we are — and we do have a slight advantage with having the hammer.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek