Two wins opening day For Canada, Korea, Japan and United States

28 October 2024

The Pan Continental Curling Championships 2024 got underway in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada on Sunday 27 October, and reigning men’s champions Canada opened the defence of their title with two wins – following up a seven-end 10-3 victory over Korea in their opener with a 17-1 win over Chinese Taipei.

By the seventh end of their opening game against Korea, the Canadians held a 6-3 lead. Their skip Brad Gushue then played a raise of his own stone to take out a Korea stone and score four points to move onto a 10-3 lead. Korea then conceded, making 10-3 the final scoreline.

Against Chinese Taipei, Canada opened with a score of three in the first end and then had a steal of five in the second for an 8-0 lead. They never looked back after that, winning the game with a steal of six in the sixth end.

The Canadians have brought in Brendan Botcher at second into their line-up and, after their opening win, skip Gushue said, “The biggest thing for us now is incorporating Brendan into the line-up, and getting comfortable with him, and playing more games. 

“This is a great opportunity in an arena setting and playing 10 ends against international teams. So, I think it gives us a really good test for what we’ll have for the rest of the year.”

Japan also had two wins, beating Chinese Taipei by 9-1 in their morning game and then winning by 7-4 over Australia in the evening session. 

Speaking about his team’s first-day experience, Japan second Hayato Sato said, “This is definitely good playing ice.

“We’re really enjoying our time so far. Our target is definitely medalling, but let’s just get through the round robin first and see where we go from there.”

Canada and Japan were joined at the top of the rankings, on two wins, by China and United States.  China beat Australia by 8-4 and followed that up with a 7-5 win over New Zealand, while the Americans, who were first session 10-2 winners over New Zealand, produced a second-half fightback against Korea in their evening game. Following a score of four in the ninth end to tie the game at 6-6, a heavy final draw by skip Lee Jaebeom finished the game with a single-point steal in the tenth.

After this come-back win, United States lead Matt Hamilton said, “It was a rollercoaster. 

“It felt like we were playing good, but obviously they were playing a lot of shots as well. They were really low on time (in the tenth end) so they really didn’t have a lot of time to think about shots and when you’re rushing and your last shot needs to be a draw to the button it can be tricky.

“That might be the only draw he missed that game.”

The women’s A Division only had one session of play on the opening day and, in this session, defending champions Korea faced China. After blanking the first two ends and giving up a steal in the third, the Koreans eventually took the lead, at 2-1, with a score of two in the fourth end. By the time the game reached the tenth end, the Koreans held a 4-2 lead. China skip Rui Wang then attempted a double take-out that would have given her two points and the win, but she hit a front guard, giving Korea a steal of one point and a 5-2 victory.

After the game, Korea skip Gim Eunji said, “I believe we were quicker reading the ice. 

“There were a couple of tricky spots here and there, but we were able to spot them faster. If we play our own game like we just did, I think we’ll be able to compete.”

By the sixth end of their game against United States, world champions Canada held a 6-2 lead. With her last stone, Canada’s skip Rachel Homan raised one of her own, to take out the sole American stone in the house, to score a further three points and increase her team’s lead to 9-2. The Americans then conceded.

For this win, Canada scored threes in each of the first, third and sixth ends and afterwards their skip Rachel Homan said, “I think we played well for our first game.

“There were some unknowns about the ice conditions and we just took it as trying to learn as best we could.”

Mexico faced Chinese Taipei in a game that was tight all the way, with the lead changing hands five times. Eventually, in the ninth end, with Mexico leading by 7-6, Chinese Taipei skip Ko Yang had a draw to score three, but it went wrong, leaving her team to only score two to take an 8-7 lead. After this, Mexico went on to win by 9-8.

Afterwards Mexico skip Adriana Camarena said, “That was a must-win game for us, probably our most important game and it came right at the start. 

“We’re more experienced this year, so maybe some of the jitters are gone. We love the stress of the game though, but it’s better when you win”.

In the fourth game of the session, New Zealand played Japan.  By the time the teams had reached the ninth end, Japan held a 5-4 lead. In that end, Japan skip Ueno Miyu drew her final stone into position to score two points and take her team’s lead to 7-4. The New Zealanders then conceded.

In the B Divisions, Jamaica and Philippines are tied at the top of the women’s rankings, both on two wins and no losses. Among the men’s teams, Jamaica are top – on four wins and no losses, with Philippines also unbeaten behind them, on three wins and no losses.

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