Sports

Gushue beats Flasch to reach Brier semifinal – TSN

Published

3 years ago

March 12, 2022

The Canadian Press

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Pressed into a three-man setup after the withdrawal of vice Mark Nichols, the Wild Card One team skipped by Brad Gushue showed Saturday that it can play just as well short-handed as even strength.

Gushue made a game-winning angle-runback to score three points for a 9-7 victory over Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch in the 3-4 Page playoff game at the Tim Hortons Brier.

With Nichols in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 a day earlier, his teammates used their mixed doubles skills to help adjust their sweeping routines and communication.

It paid off with a strong performance in a game that featured tremendous shotmaking from both sides.

“(It’s) like playing a hockey game killing a penalty for 60 minutes,” Gushue said. “It is that big a difference in my opinion.”

The 2022 Olympic bronze medallists advanced to the semifinal with the win. Alberta’s Kevin Koe was scheduled to play Canada’s Brendan Bottcher in the 1-2 Page playoff game Saturday night at the Enmax Centre.

The 1-2 winner advances to the final Sunday night. The loser plays Gushue earlier in the day for the other berth.

After an opening blank, Gushue made a soft raise takeout for a pair to open the scoring. Second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker raised their fists in the air to salute the skip at the other end of the ice.

Nichols chimed in on Twitter by posting three flame emojis.

Flasch also showed his big-game mettle in front of a near-capacity crowd. He made a hit for two in the third end and forced Gushue to find a tight port against three for a single in the fourth.

The Saskatchewan skip made an in-off for a pair to take a 4-3 lead into the mid-game break.

In the sixth end, Gallant made a hit-and-roll that just stuck around the edge of the 12-foot ring to set up a Gushue deuce. Flasch settled for one in the seventh and a Gushue in-off in the eighth end gave him a 6-5 lead.

Flasch made a soft tap for two in the ninth end but vice Catlin Schneider missed a double takeout in the 10th end. Flasch was still able to draw around a centre guard to the top of the four-foot ring to put the pressure on.

Gushue went with an angle-runback as it was the only option that could give him multiple points. He said he threw his angle-runback a little tight but Gallant held it.

“I was just glad it was over to be honest,” Gushue said. “It’s really hard playing with three players. It’s mentally exhausting. Everybody is trying to do probably even more than you need to do. That was a grind.”

A team that started out as a favourite after an 8-0 round-robin run quickly became an underdog when Nichols went down. The odds are against the three-time Brier champions but they’ll still be tough to bet against.

“There’s no quit in our team,” Gushue said. “I think we’ve proven that over the last eight or 10 years we’ve been together. Certainly this afternoon was no exception. I’m super proud of what we did.”

The Wild Card One entry did not have an alternate player at the Brier. Jeff Thomas served as a fifth at Canada’s Olympic trials last fall and moved into a coaching role for the Gushue rink at the Beijing Games.

However, he wasn’t available this week since he was coaching the Newfoundland and Labrador team skipped by Nathan Young. Gallant said the turnaround from the Games to the Brier was too tight to bring a new alternate on board.

“It’s a bit of a roll of the dice obviously,” Gallant said.

The loss eliminated Flasch, who played three games a day earlier – posting knockout wins over Wild Card Two’s Matt Dunstone (in a tiebreaker) and Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs – and did well in his first Brier as a skip.

“It just shows that we belong,” said Flasch, who won world silver in 2019 as a second for Koe. “We’re a great team and everyone knows it now.”

The Brier winner will represent Canada at the April 2-10 world men’s curling championship in Las Vegas.

Gushue, Northern Ontario third Marc Kennedy, Saskatchewan second Kevin Marsh and Canada lead Karrick Martin were named first-team all-stars Saturday night. Koe, Nichols, Alberta second John Morris and teammate Ben Hebert took the second-team honours.

Kerri Einarson won her third straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts title last month in Thunder Bay, Ont. She will wear the Maple Leaf at the March 19-27 women’s world curling championship in Prince George, B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2022.

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

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.

___

AP cricket:

Source link

Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

Source link

Sports

Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Source link