Canadian Mixed Doubles Curlers Suffer Devastating Loss to Swedes in Olympic Push
The Canadian mixed doubles curling team's playoff hopes took a significant blow on Sunday with a 7-6 defeat to Sweden at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman's losing streak now stands at four games, leaving them with a 3-4 record in the round-robin stage.
The Canadians, who were initially expected to compete for a podium position, have slipped to sixth place, with only a slim chance of securing a spot in the four-team semifinals. They must now win their remaining two matches and rely on other results to progress.
Canadian coach Scott Pfeifer expressed his disappointment, stating, 'It kind of sucks because we had it in our hands this morning. If we'd won out, we knew we were in the playoffs.'
Gallant and Peterman, from Chestermere, Alberta, will face South Korea's Seonyeong Kim and Yeongseok Jeong (2-5) later today. Gallant remained optimistic, saying, 'We just have to reset and come out firing tonight. I thought we played a hell of a game this afternoon, so that's a good sign.'
The Swedish team, consisting of siblings Rasmus Wrana and Isabella Wrana, secured a 5-3 record after their victory. They scored three points in the seventh end, ultimately holding Canada to a single point in the eighth end.
The Canadians' performance was further hampered by their last-place standing in the 10-team field in draw shot challenge standings. Pre-game draws to the button are averaged over the competition and serve as tiebreakers after head-to-head records.
Pfeifer emphasized, 'There's one thing that we can control and that's our performance on the ice.'
The Canadian duo's next challenge awaits on Monday morning against Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann (4-3), who defeated Great Britain's Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds (7-1) 7-6.
In other matches, the United States' Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse were tied at 5-2 with Italy's Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner. The Americans emerged victorious against Estonia's Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill, while the host Italians easily defeated Czechia's Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky.
As of Sunday night, Great Britain remains the only team to have qualified for the playoffs. The semifinals are scheduled for Monday night, followed by the medal games on Tuesday.
