Gushue Heads for Bronze-Medal Game After Stumbling During PCCC Semi
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By Doug Hirdle
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Summary:
- Canada’s Brad Gushue was defeated 8-4 by Japan’s Shinya Abe in the Pan Continental semifinals on Thursday.
- Gushe go for bronze against American John Shuster on Friday.
- Ottawa’s Rachel Homan improved to 7-0 with an 8-6 win over Japan’s Miyu Ueno (6-1) on Thursday.
Canada’s Brad Gushue was defeated 8-4 by Japan’s Shinya Abe in the men’s semifinals at the Pan Continental Curling Championship on Thursday night.
After winning gold for the past two years at the event, Gushue will now have to settle for a potential bronze medal in Friday’s game against American John Shuster.
The 44-year-old born in Kitami, Hokkaidō will move on to play China’s Xiaoming Xu for the gold on Saturday.
Gushe: “There’s Disappointment”
“Absolutely, there’s disappointment“, Gushue commented following the defeat. The St. John’s, Newfoundland-born expressed his regret for letting both the team and himself down.
The 44-year-old said that he felt he “didn’t have a very good game” and emphasized the need to “regroup and have a strong game tomorrow”.
“It’s just disappointing that our worst game was in the semifinals” he added.
The Japanese took a 5-4 lead after six ends, then added three more points in the eighth and ninth ends after a scoreless seventh. Gushue conceded the 10th and final end.
The Japanese took a 5-4 lead after six ends, then added three more points in the eighth and ninth ends after a scoreless seventh. Gushue conceded the 10th and final end.
“They had good feel and we didn’t“, the curler who brought Canada the gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics alongside teammates Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Jamie Korab, and Mike Adam added.
Gushe explained that, after he overthrew his draw against two and gave up two, his team was on their back foot, “really trying to chase”.
However, despite the opportunities they had, their opponents “either made a great shot” or “got a break”.
Undefeated Round-Robin Play
Earlier on Thursday, Gushue warmed up for the playoffs with a 7-4 win over Xu, finishing with a double-takeout for a single in the 10th end.
Gushue’s team of vice Mark Nichols, second Brendan Bottcher, and lead Geoff Walker went unbeaten in round-robin play, finishing 7-0.
Japan (4-3) fell to fourth place after an 8-2 loss to Shuster (6-1), who later fell 7-4 to Xu (4-3) in the other semifinal on Thursday.
In other matches, New Zealand’s Anton Hood defeated Taiwan’s Ken Hsu 13-3, and South Korea’s Jaebeom Lee edged Australia’s Hugh Millikin 9-7.
South Korea finished with a 3-4 record, ahead of Australia and New Zealand at 2-5, while Taiwan (0-7) was relegated to the B division for next year.
Homan Defeated Japanese Ueno, Moved to 7-0
In women’s competition, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan moved to 7-0 after an 8-6 victory over Japan’s Miyu Ueno (6-1) on Thursday.
Both Canada’s and Japan’s teams made it into Friday morning’s semifinals, together with South Korea’s Eunji Gim (5-2) who also bagged a playoff spot.
The last spot was clinched by China’s Rui Wang (4-3) following Thursday’s 9-4 win against American Cory Thiesse (3-4).
Homan will face Wang in one semifinal, while Gim and Ueno will compete in the other, with winners advancing to Saturday’s gold-medal match.
The competition continues through Saturday at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex, with the event representing a qualifier for the 2025 World Championships.
