Canada’s men’s curling team lost its final preliminary round match at the Beijing Olympics to Great Britain on Wednesday but will still advance to the semifinals against Sweden.
The Brits showed why they had a tournament-best record by beating the Canadians 5-2. Brad Gushue and his teammates only scored in the second end.
The maple leaf (5-4) finished in third place in the standings and had taken advantage of the defeats of the Swiss and the Russians, earlier in the day, to rank in the semi-finals. The Swedes (7-2), who dropped their last game against Switzerland, will be Canada’s opponents in the next round.
In the other semi-final, the British (8-1) will face the United States (5-4).
High hopes in skiing
In the halfpipe ski event, the three Canadian women who started the competition will participate in the final.
Alberta’s Rachael Karker led the group with a best run of 89.50 points to earn her second spot. She was overtaken by Chinese Ailing Eileen Gu, who exceeded 90 points twice.
Another Albertan, Cassie Sharpe, and Nova Scotian Amy Fraser will also fight for a medal, taking sixth and 11th respectively.and qualifications position.
In ski cross, Canadians Hannah Schmidt (4and1 min 18.07 s), Marielle Thompson (5and1:18.16), Brittany Phelan (7and1:18.17) and Courtney Hoffos (8and1:18.28) were all convincing in qualifying and will be able to demonstrate their know-how in the final.
In alpine skiing, Canadian Roni Remme ruined all her chances in the alpine combined by falling on the descent. The slalom event is to follow later in the day.
