STILL ALIVE!

Canada keeps playoff hopes alive at Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Worlds

Canada’s wheelchair curling team knew that the inaugural Mixed Doubles World Championship in Lohja, Finland was going to be a journey into uncharted waters. A new championship for a new discipline would certainly present some unforeseen challenges.

But the Canadians were ready to adapt.

Prior to the event, coach Dana Ferguson said, “The plan is to keep learning, and use what we know to our advantage.”

While the results haven’t been quite what Marie Wright and Jamie Anseeuw would have hoped for, the pair has battled to a 3-4 record. The standings being what they are, however, means that the playoffs are not officially out of the picture. They will need a bit of help though.

“The team has played well,” said Ferguson. “The record doesn’t show their hard work or the learning they have done this week.”

After dropping the morning game to Turkey 7-5, Canada’s playoff hopes were all but dashed. A 2-4 record put them tied for last in the nine-team pool. 

The Canadians rebounded, however, with a 7-6 win over the Czech Republic in the afternoon session, bringing the record to 3-4; good enough for a tie for fifth place. As only the top three in the pool will advance, a win tomorrow over Denmark could put them in a tie for third, potentially in a log-jam with four other teams.

The good news is that in that scenario, Canada’s Last Shot Draw score could potentially move them through to the playoffs, as only Germany fares better in that category. Germany will play Turkey tomorrow and a win would also put them at 4-4, which means Canada will be cheering hard for the team that just beat them.

But for any of that to matter, Canada needs to win.

“They are putting everything they have into each game and have fought until the very end,” said Ferguson. “We have more knowledge about the game and how we can improve than we did at the start of the week and that was what this event was about.”

Canada’s last round robin game vs. Denmark is scheduled for 9:30 am in Finland (2:30 am EST).

For scores and results visit: https://curlit.com/wwhMDcc/Default.aspx

For event live-stream visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/CurlingFinlandOfficial/