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Canada finishes 4th in world mixed doubles curling

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - Martine Roenning and Mathias Braenden of Norway stole singles in the fourth, fifth and eighth ends to defeat Team Canada 6-2 in the bronze-medal final at the world mixed doubles curling championship on Saturday in South Korea.

The Canadian combo of Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing finished the round robin portion of the 20-country event on top of Group A with an 8-1 record. Norway finished tied for second in Group B with a 7-2 record.

In the fourth end against Norway, Jones attempted a tap for two, but it didn’t curl enough, giving Norway one point for a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth end, Jones faced a slash into a pile of Norwegian stones, but missed the stone completely, giving the Norwegians another steal, for a 4-1 advantage.

Anderson, Rajala reach world senior curling finals

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - Canada will play for gold in both the women's and men's finals at the world senior curling championships.

Sherry Anderson's Saskatoon rink beat Switzerland's Monika Gafner 7-3 in the women's semifinal Friday. Howard Rajala's foursome from Ottawa. topped Joel Larway of the United States 8-2 on the men's side to reach the gold-medal game.

Anderson, alongside vice-skip Patty Hersikorn, second Brenda Goertzen and lead Anita Silvernagle, is looking for a record third world senior women's title.

They'll take on Jackie Lockhart of Scotland in the final Saturday morning in South Korea.

Jones, Laing stumble in world mixed doubles semis

Jennifer Jones has fallen short in her bid for another curling world title.

The Winnipeg product and her husband, Brent Laing, lost 6-2 to an American duo early Friday in the semifinals of the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in South Korea.

Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin of the United States stole crucial single point in the first and sixth ends, and then a crushing two in the seventh to end Canada’s gold-medal hopes.

Jones — a two-time world champion and 2014 Olympic champion in women’s four-player curling — and Laing, who make their home in Horseshoe Valley, Ont., will take on Norway’s Martine Roenning and Mathias Braenden in the bronze-medal game (8 p.m. Friday CT).

Canada plays for bronze at mixed doubles worlds

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - Canada's Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing will play for the bronze medal after falling 6-2 to the United States in a semifinal match at the world mixed doubles curling championship on Friday.

The U.S. duo of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin stole crucial single points in the first and sixth ends, and then a crushing deuce in the seventh, to end Canada’s gold-medal hopes.

Thiesse and Dropkin shot a combined 92 per cent on Friday.

“They played very, very well,” said Jones. “We didn’t put as much pressure as we would have liked. And you know, it just started off with that steal. If I make that draw in the first end, maybe it changes the game a bit. But we’re still really happy with our week, and we had fun out there. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow morning.”

Canada advances to mixed doubles semifinals

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - Canada's Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing qualified for the semifinal after wrapping up first place in their pool at the world mixed doubles curling championship on Thursday.

The duo beat host South Korea 7-6 to finish with an 8-1 round-robin record, and received some good fortune when the Netherlands upset Estonia 8-6.

Both Canada and Estonia entered the final day of the round robin with identical 7-1 records.

Estonia, who handed Canada its only loss, owned the tie-breaker between the two teams if they finished tied atop Pool A.

Jones, Laing on roll at mixed doubles worlds

The couple that plays together wins together. Apparently, that’s the message delivered by Winnipeg product Jennifer Jones and her husband, Brent Laing, who are on a tremendous run at the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Gangneung South Korea.

Jones, Laing sweep pair at mixed doubles worlds

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - Canada's Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing picked up a pair of wins on Monday at the world mixed doubles curling championship in South Korea.

The duo defeated Italy's Stefania Constantini and Sebastiano Arman 8-4 before dishing Australia's Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt an 11-6 loss in the evening session.

“Two big wins,” Laing said. “I mean, two teams that were at the top or near the top of the standings and coming in as favourites, so any time you can win both games in a day, it's been a great day.”

After playing from behind for much of the game, Canada took its first lead over Italy with a deuce in the fifth end. The Italians tied it with a single in the sixth but a pair of deuces from the Canadians in the final two ends allowed them to earn the victory.

Canada's Jones, Laing take first loss at worlds

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - Canada’s Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing suffered their first loss of the world mixed doubles curling championship on Sunday in South Korea.

The duo fell 7-4 to Estonia's Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill.

Holding a 4-3 edge after the sixth end, the Canadians surrendered a deuce in the seventh. Down 5-4 with the hammer in the eighth, Jones was light with her last-rock draw to the four-foot in an effort to tie the game and Estonia stole two to pad the victory.

“It was disappointing, but we know what we’re capable of and we know there is room for improvement,” Jones said. “We learned a lot about the ice and rocks and we’re going to keep trying to get better as the week goes on.”

Jones, Laing open world mixed with two wins

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of - The Canadian combo of Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing rolled to a pair of impressive victories on the opening day of world mixed doubles curling championship on Saturday in South Korea.

The husband and wife team from Winnipeg beat Scotland's Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds in the opening game to start the 20-team, week-long competition. Canada then capped a successful first day by doubling Vanessa Tonoli and Wouter Goesgens of the Netherlands 10-5 in the evening draw.

“It settles you down a little bit,” said Laing of the wins. “It's nice to get a big win to start for sure. And then you're excited about that and you regroup and you have to go out and do it again and then you just got to keep doing that every day.”

The Canadians scored four in the first end, stole one in the second and then coasted to an 8-4 victory over the Scots.

World mixed doubles curling new for Jones, Laing

Steeped in international curling experience, Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing are about to embark on something new.

The couple have a combined nine national championships, five world titles, three Olympic appearances and an Olympic gold medal between them in men's and women's team curling.

The husband and wife duo will represent Canada for the first time at the world mixed doubles championship in an arena that elicits mixed emotions for both.

"We are rookies at the world mixed doubles, no question, but I think we can draw on all our other experiences in four-person play for sure," Laing said.

Curling Canada alters trials, Hearts, Brier format

Curling Canada announced significant changes to some of its major events on Monday.

The four-player Olympic trials for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, an eight-team event, will open with a round-robin draw, with the top three teams making the playoffs.

The second and third-place teams will then meet in the semifinal while the first-place team advances directly to the final, where the two remaining teams will face off in a best-of-three for the first time ever.

Curling Canada is also making changes to the Tournament of Hearts and the Brier beginning next year, announcing that the top two men's and women's teams not already qualified from this season will automatically earn a spot in next year's Canadian championship events. The third wild-card team will be determined following the 2023-24 provincial and territorial playdowns.

Canada falls to Scotland in world curling final

OTTAWA - There was no elation in front of a home crowd for Canada's Brad Gushue this time around.

Drama was minimized Sunday at TD Place as his team's attempt to follow a national curling crown with a world title was snuffed out in emphatic fashion.

Scotland's Bruce Mouat was in full control in a 9-3 win that sent him to the top of the world men's podium for the first time and extended Canada's golden drought for another year.

"We brought our A-plus game," Mouat said. "I don't think we've played many better games than that."

Switzerland routs Italy for world curling bronze

OTTAWA - Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller capped a strong week at the world men's curling championship with a bronze medal Sunday.

The top seed in the six-team playoffs, Schwaller walloped Italy's Joel Retornaz 11-3 in the third-place game at TD Place.

"The field was very strong and the teams are so in form," Schwaller said. "To (win a) medal in a field like this is not a gimme at all. So we're quite happy to have a medal."

Switzerland led the round-robin standings at 11-1 but fell to Canada's Brad Gushue in the semifinals Saturday night.

Canada's Gushue to go for gold at curling worlds

OTTAWA - There will be a new champion at this year's world men's curling championship. And Canada's Brad Gushue has a chance to reach the top of the podium.

Gushue whipped four-time defending champion Niklas Edin of Sweden 9-1 on Saturday before locking up a spot in the title game with a 7-5 semifinal victory over Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller.

"I think that might have been our best game all week as a team," Gushue said. "But we've struggled this week. So to get to a final, I think we're pretty fortunate.

"We've just got to go out and play like we did today."

Canada's Gushue beats Turkey and Sweden

OTTAWA - Brad Gushue's busy start to round-robin play was bookended by a run of split shifts at the world men's curling championship.

His Canadian team fought through the inconsistent timing to qualify for the playoffs at TD Place. The St. John's, N.L.-based side will enter weekend play on a roll after a pair of victories Friday.

"When I looked at our schedule it was kind of, 'Who did I piss off at the World Curling Federation?'," Gushue joked. "We started off (playing) four of the first five draws and then we finished with mornings and nights for three days in a row.

"I was like, 'Whoa, this is tough.'"

Canada's Gushue splits games, reaches playoffs

OTTAWA - Minutes after dropping a third game at the world men's curling championship on Thursday night, Brad Gushue and his Canadian teammates returned to the ice at TD Place.

An impromptu practice session was followed by conversations at the coach's bench.

A 6-3 loss to Scotland's Bruce Mouat left Canada playoff-bound at 7-3 with one day of round-robin play to go. But there is much work to be done if the host team is going to contend on the weekend.

"We're going to talk about it and attempt to make some changes," Gushue said.

Sweden's Edin wows crowd with ridiculous spinner

OTTAWA - Thinking it may have been a circus throw for show, some laughs were heard at TD Place when Niklas Edin tried a spin shot in the 10th end of Sweden's game against Norway on Wednesday.

Gasps mixed with shrieks of incredulity rang out when he actually made it.

Edin, the defending champion at the world men's curling playdowns, tied the game with an otherworldly shot that left the sport's most seasoned rock-throwers at a loss for words.

"There's these moments in sports where sometimes the moment is bigger than the result of the game," said curling commentator Tyler George, who won Olympic gold in 2018.

Canada's Gushue picks up two victories at worlds

OTTAWA - A 9-4 score line flattered Canada in its round-robin win over South Korea on Wednesday morning at the world men's curling championship.

Brad Gushue's St. John's, N.L.-based rink struggled at times but still took advantage of misses from Byeongjin Jeong's side in a game that ended after Canada's four-point eighth end.

"This was a little bit of a step back," said Gushue. "The first morning game of the week. Maybe (we were) a little groggy. We did have some execution errors that we couldn't blame on ice or rocks. It was human error.

"If we can straighten that out, we'll be OK."

Cameron forms new team with Grand Slam subs

Kate Cameron was in a jam. Last December’s Masters Grand Slam in Oakville, Ont., was only 24 hours away and sisters Casey Scheidegger and Jessie Haughian were unable to play due to a family emergency.

Canada tops Czechs at men's curling worlds

OTTAWA - Canada's Caleb Flaxey looks like his head is on a swivel from his perch on the coach's bench at the world men's curling championship.

With notebook at the ready and binoculars by his side, the Team Brad Gushue coach is constantly monitoring the action on all four sheets at TD Place.

"These guys are arguably the best in the world but there's always continuous improvement needed," Flaxey said. "So it's always finding the fine details that can help out quite a bit.

"I've developed an eye for that over time."

Canada beats Japan at men's curling worlds

OTTAWA - After an uneven opening weekend at the world men's curling championship, Brad Gushue's Canadian team delivered a vintage performance at an ideal time.

Gushue and vice Mark Nichols displayed their shotmaking mettle Monday and the front end of Geoff Walker and E.J. Harnden also delivered in a 6-3 win over a plucky Japanese side at TD Place.

"I think it was a must-win and I think we're in that position for a little while now," Gushue said. "The next probably two or three games I think are all in that boat.

"You don't want to get too far behind the 8-ball knowing some of the teams that we have left."

Ottawa rink brings back memories for Savill

OTTAWA - A couple of Czech players took pictures of the TD Place arena upon arrival at the world men's curling championship over the weekend.

Their coach, Craig Savill, was standing nearby. With hands in his pockets, he gazed out at the ice thinking back to a memorable Brier moment from 2016.

"I haven't been back in this building since," Savill said. "When I walked back out here, I looked around and it brought back a lot of emotions of that time, which was a pretty cool spirit of curling moment.

"It's something I will never forget."