Three of Canada’s top gold-medal contenders are off to good starts
The Canadian women’s hockey and mixed doubles curling teams and moguls superstar Mikaël Kingsbury all kicked off their quests to win Olympic gold either last night or this morning. Here’s what happened:
Mixed doubles curling
Canada’s Rachel Homan and John Morris opened with a tough loss last night, falling 6-4 to reigning world champions Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat of Great Britain in a game that went down to the final rocks. But the Canadians rebounded this morning with a 7-6 win over the Norwegian duo that took Olympic bronze in 2018.
Homan and Morris, who are defending the gold medal Morris won with Kaitlyn Lawes four years ago, return to the ice tonight for a pair of games. They’ll face 2018 silver medallist Switzerland at 7:35 p.m. ET, and China at 12:35 a.m. ET.
Women’s hockey
Canada came out flying in its opener last night, crushing overmatched Switzerland 12-1. Besides the lopsided score, a few stats stood out for the Canadians: they outshot the Swiss 70-15, eight different players scored goals, and 12 registered at least one point. That kind of depth bodes well for Canada’s chances of taking back the gold medal from the United States, which won it in a shootout in 2018 to break Canada’s streak of four consecutive titles.
The Americans opened with a 5-2 win over Finland this morning, but they lost a key player: veteran forward and alternate captain Brianna Decker is out for the tournament after being stretchered off with a severe leg injury. Decker, you might remember, was the (unofficial) winner of the passing event at the 2019 NHL all-star skills competition.
Canada’s next game is Friday at 11:10 p.m. ET vs. the Finns, who took bronze in 2018. All five teams in this group, which also includes Russia, automatically advance to the playoffs.
Moguls
Kingsbury began his men’s moguls title defence in style this morning, posting the top score in the opening qualifying round to advance directly to Saturday’s final. The surprise of the day was Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who was expected to challenge Kingsbury for gold after winning three times on the World Cup circuit this season, placing 16th. Only the top 10 skiers advance straight to the final, so Horishima will have to go through the second round of qualifying, which takes place just 90 minutes before the medal round.
In women’s qualifying, Canada’s Justine Dufour-Lapointe grabbed the last direct ticket to the final by placing 10th. Chloe Dufour-Lapointe just missed out in 11th. The sisters shared the podium at the 2014 Olympics, where Justine won gold and Chloe silver. Justine added a silver in 2018. Chloe is currently ranked 15th in the World Cup standings, and Justine is 16th.
WATCH | While you were sleeping: Mélodie Daoust injured, mixed doubles curling, Kingsbury advances:
While You Were Sleeping: Mélodie Daoust injured, mixed doubles curling, Kingsbury advances
13 hours ago
Duration 3:34
Catch up on the latest Canadian Olympic action from Beijing, featuring women’s hockey, curling mixed doubles and freestyle skiing on February 3rd. 3:34
Coming up on Thursday night and Friday morning
As we wait for competition to hit full swing on Friday night/Saturday morning in Canadian time zones, there are three things worth paying attention to in the meantime:
Mixed doubles curling
As mentioned above, Canada’s Rachel Homan and John Morris are off to a 1-1 start after losing to reigning world champion Great Britain and beating 2018 Olympic bronze medallist Norway. Tonight, they face 2018 silver medallist Switzerland (1-2) at 7:35 p.m. ET and China (2-1) at 12:35 a.m. ET.
Figure skating
The team event begins tonight at 8:55 p.m. ET with the men’s short program, followed by the ice dance rhythm dance (10:35 p.m. ET) and the pairs short (12:15 a.m. ET). There’s also a women’s segment in this event, but that doesn’t start until Saturday night. Skating tonight for Canada will be Roman Sadovsky (men’s), Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (dance), and Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro (pairs).
Sadovsky is replacing Canadian men’s champion Keegan Messing in the team event after Messing was unable to produce the negative COVID-19 tests required to travel to China. Gilles and Poirier are Canada’s best hope for a medal in the traditional figure skating events after taking bronze at last year’s world championships. Moore-Towers and Marinaro finished 11th in the pairs event at the 2018 Olympics.
Women’s hockey team captain Marie-Philip Poulin and longtime short track speed skating star Charles Hamelin will carry the Canadian flag into Beijing’s National Stadium (aka the Bird’s Nest). The show starts at 7 a.m. ET, and CBC’s live coverage begins at 6:30 a.m. ET. You can watch it on the CBC TV network, CBC News Network, CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports’ Beijing 2022 website.
How to watch live Olympic events
They’re being broadcast on TV on CBC, TSN and Sportsnet. Or choose exactly what you want to watch by live streaming on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports’ Beijing 2022 website. Check out the full streaming schedule (with links to live events) here and read more about how to watch the Games here.
If you’re located outside Canada, you unfortunately won’t be able to access CBC Sports’ coverage of the Games on the app or the website. That’s due to the way the Olympics’ media rights deals work. But if you’re in the northern United States or other international regions, such as Bermuda, that regularly offer the CBC TV network, you can watch the Games there.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
