Eight Ends is your daily one-stop shop for all things curling with news, notes, insight and analysis through the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, broken slider and all.
First End: Canada faced a tight turnaround competing in back-to-back draws but was able to take two wins and make a thing go right. Rachel Homan and John Morris topped Switzerland’s Jenny Perret and Martin Rios 7-5 then defeated China’s SuYuan Fan and Zhi Ling 8-6 on Friday. After dropping their first game to Great Britain, Homan and Morris are now rolling along. Three convincing wins would normally signal a team’s on fire (boom-shaka-laka) but this is a nine-game round-robin and there’s still plenty of curling to come. Still, they’re heating up, improving game after game and looking more dialed in. Not even a malfunction with her slider shoe could slow Homan down.
Second End: Although Perret and Rios started with the hammer, Homan and Morris struck the scoreboard first stealing three points in the opening end and never relinquished the lead. It was a dreadful start as the Swiss missed the mark on all five shots with Perret’s last rock sailing heavy past a sea of red rocks.
Third End: With Canada ahead 6-4 in the seventh, Morris and Homan were looking to either score two or hand Switzerland a steal. I know what you’re thinking but giving your opponent a point isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Scoreboard management dictates that call. Although that would have made it 6-5, keeping the last-rock advantage plus the power play for the final frame would have made it extremely hard for Switzerland to steal the victory that way.
Homan and Morris were in an identical situation against China, up 6-4 with the hammer in the seventh and the power play in the bank, but were able to score a deuce that time and left their opponents with no chance to tie it in the eighth.
Fourth End: Although Canada had to settle for a single in the seventh against Switzerland and take a 7-4 lead into the final frame, that cued flashbacks of the 2017 world mixed doubles championship final. Perret and Rios scored four points in the eighth to upend Canada’s Joanne Courtney and Reid Carruthers 6-5 for the title. History did not repeat. It looked like Switzerland might have a shot to score the equalizing three points, but they wrecked it for just one point. As Ice Cube, the rapper not the venue, once said: Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
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Fifth End: Just throw it away. We saw it happen twice during the Canada vs. China game, once by each team, with crowded clusters of rocks in the four-foot circle. Like giving your opponent points, it might seem strange to first-time viewers to see a team toss away their last rock but it’s a sound strategy when the risk outweighs the reward.
Sixth End: The Opening Ceremony see several curlers carrying their nations’ flags with John Shuster for the United States, Eve Muirhead for Great Britain and Madeleine Dupont for Denmark. Why hasn’t a curler carried the Canadian flag? Not just this year but ever? That’s not to take anything away from Marie-Philip Poulin (hockey), Charles Hamelin (short-track speedskating) — both are worthy of the honour — but considering Canada prides itself as a curling nation it’s pretty odd not a single curler has ever carried the flag for the Opening Ceremony. Oh well, maybe a curler will be considered for the Closing Ceremony.
Seventh End: Forza! Italy remains atop of the table, and undefeated no less at 4-0, defeating Norway 11-8 in a high-offence affair during draw 5 and then cruising in the driver’s seat past the Czech Republic 10-2 in Draw 6.
Australia (0-5) almost upset Great Britain during the sixth session having a shot to win in the eighth end but had to settle for an equalizing two points to force the extra. Great Britain (3-1) prevailed 9-8 to avoid back-to-back losses. A similar situation unfolded between Sweden and the United States. This time it was favoured Sweden looking to score three for the win in the eighth but only getting two and the underdog American team came out on top 8-7 in the extra. Sweden dropped to a 3-2 record while the U.S. is batting .500 again at 2-2.
Eighth End: We’re just flying along here and crossing the midway mark of round-robin play. Canada takes on Sweden during Draw 8 (Saturday, 1:05 a.m. ET) followed by the United States in Draw 9 (Saturday, 7:05 a.m. ET). Homan and Morris should be considered the favourite now in both matches, especially after Sweden fell short against the U.S.
Meanwhile, Italy will be the heavy favourite against Australia in Draw 8, but keep an eye on the matchup against Great Britain during Draw 9 as that will be a tough one to keep the unblemished record intact (unless Australia pulls off the upset first, of course).
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