Canada’s curlers claim top of podium

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This article was published 21/03/2010 (5991 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Canada’s wheelchair curling team held off a hard-charging South Korean rink for an 8-7 win in the gold-medal game at the Vancouver Paralympics on Saturday.

"The support from the fans has been amazing. They’re a big reason why we could do so well," said lead Sonja Gaudet, the only returning member from the gold-medal team four years ago in Turin.

Canada, which nearly blew a seven-point lead in the final, lost just two games in the round-robin and qualified for the final after beating Sweden 10-5 in one of the semifinals earlier Saturday.

"It’s undescribable. It’ll probably sink in about a week from now. When I’m all alone, I’ll just be able to let the tears fly," said third Darryl Neighbour with his gold medal around his neck.

The Swedes picked up the bronze after topping the United States 7-5.

Leading 8-6 in the eighth and final end, South Korea had the two rocks in the house, but Canadian skip Jim Armstrong cleared one with his final shot to seal the victory.

It was a bit of redemption for Armstrong, who represented British Columbia six times in the Brier during his days as an able-bodied curler.

"This is as good as it gets. To me, there’s a win here or a win able-bodied — in fact, in a lot of ways, maybe this is more important," said Armstrong.

Canada got off to a quick start in the first end, as second Ina Forrest froze her first shot against a South Korean stone and followed that with another shot right to the four-foot.

Armstrong finished off the end with a perfect run-back to the four-foot to give Canada a 3-0 lead.

Canada benefited from some sloppy play from the South Koreans and led 4-0 after the second.

South Korean skip Kim Haksung had his draw in the third end come up light and was forced to settle for just a single point.

Armstrong then had an open draw for four in the fourth end as Canada opened up an 8-1 lead.

While South Korea struggled early, Canada’s struggles came as the match wore on. South Korea had two stones on the button in the sixth end, but Armstrong couldn’t draw around to clear them off with either of his shots. South Korea stole two more to cut the deficit to three at 8-5.

— The Canadian Press