CALGARY — A Canadian rival’s assist fills a gap for Brendan Bottcher at the men’s world curling championship.
The world championship stones in Calgary are not the rocks Bottcher and teammates threw to win a Canadian title last month in the same arena.
The World Curling Federation’s stones employed at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre were last tossed at the 2019 men’s world championship in Lethbridge, Alta., where Kevin Koe represented Canada.
Colton Flasch, Koe’s second that year, has supplied Bottcher’s foursome with a “rock book” that is a scouting report on each stone’s movement.
“He gave us his book from the ’19 worlds,” Bottcher third Darren Moulding said. “That just shows us Canadian curlers, we’ve got each other’s backs.”
Bottcher, Moulding and front end Brad Thiessen and Karrick Martin from Edmonton came from behind to beat Scotland’s Bruce Mouat 9-6 in Canada’s opener Friday.
Down 5-2 at the fifth-end break, Canada scored two in the sixth, seventh and ninth ends to be up 8-6 coming home without last-rock advantage.
The Scots couldn’t generate a deuce with hammer and gave up a steal of one. Mouat, a bronze medallist in 2018, is a contender for the title in Calgary.
“We were resilient that game,” Bottcher said. “We battled hard. That was a big win for us in the course of the week.
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little bit of butterflies. It’s a pretty cool feeling. We’ve been wearing the (Canada) jerseys for a few days now. We’re playing in a world championship. That’s frigging cool.”
The hosts also topped Japan’s Matsumura Yuta 8-5 in an evening draw to move to 2-0, while Scotland responded with a 7-2 win over Denmark to even its record 1-1.
Koe defeated Bottcher in the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier final and took silver in Lethbridge behind champion Niklas Edin of Sweden.
Nine of 14 skips in this year’s BK Tires and OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championship also competed in Lethbridge.
They have stone intelligence the Canadians would lack if not for Flasch’s generosity.
“We are all Team Canada and anything to help them,” Flasch wrote in a message to The Canadian Press.
“I would think with no information they would be at a slight disadvantage and any extra information early in the week would only help them.”
The WCF’s stones feel lighter and not quite as lively in the house as the Brier rocks, said Moulding.
“They are different stones than we used in the Brier and running a little bit differently than we’re used to seeing,” Bottcher said.
The Russian Curling Federation team skipped by Sergey Glukhov won twice Friday. Glukhov’s official team name is Russian Curling Federation because of World Anti-Doping Agency sanctions against his country.
Norway’s Steffan Walstad and Italy’s Joel Retornaz also went 2-0 on Day 1.
Reigning Olympic champion John Shuster of the United States and Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz opened with wins Friday to sit 1-0, while Japan’s Matsumura was alongside Scotland at 1-1.
The Swiss edged back-to-back world champion Edin 8-7 in an extra end.
Sweden and Germany’s Sixten Totzek were 0-1, while Jaap Van Doorp of the Netherlands, Denmark’s Mads Noergaard, South Korea’s Jeong Yeong-seok and China’s Zou Quiang started 0-2.
No spectators are allowed in the arena, which was also the case at the Canadian men’s, women’s and mixed doubles championship in Calgary preceding the men’s world event.
Participants were subject to quarantine and testing before getting on the ice. They’re confined to the arena and the hotel while competing to avoid the COVID-19 virus.
“We feel safe,” Norwegian third Torger Nergaard said. “They had a few test events before the guys from Norway came, so that’s good.”
The top two teams in the round-robin standings earn byes to the semifinals April 10.
Third through sixth compete in qualification games with third versus sixth and fourth versus fifth.
Qualification winners advance to the semifinals. The gold and bronze-medal games are April 11.
Head-to-head results, and then pre-game draw-the-button distances, solve ties.
The top six teams qualify their countries to compete in men’s curling in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 2, 2021.
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.
