Sweden defeats Canada and takes a clear second place
Defending world champions and Olympic champions met Sweden’s previously undefeated Canada in Wednesday morning’s 12th round pass at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, USA.
In a close match, Sweden secured a 7-5 win.
This session also saw Switzerland defeat Denmark, 7-0 in just six finishes; Korea beat Italy, 10-5; and the United States claims an 8-3 victory over the Netherlands.
Canada v Sweden
Canada opened the scoring in the second end of the match against Sweden, when Swedish skipper Niklas Edin failed with a double selection attempt, which gave away a steal on one point.
The team exchanged single points during the next three finals and went into the fifth final break to a 2-2 draw.
Sweden stole a single point in the sixth end, when Canada jumper Brad Gushue was out of goal with his attempt at runback, which left a Swedish counter in the eight-footer.
Canada bounced back with two points in the seventh end when Gushue played an exact draw into a hectic house and took a 4-3 lead.
Sweden struck back with two own points in the eighth end, before Canada equalized to 5-5 with a single point in the ninth end after Gushue fell short with his last draw attempt.
In the tenth end, Gushue’s freeze was somewhat wide, leaving Edin with an open hit for two points and the win 7-5.
This result moves Sweden to second place and gives Canada its first loss of the week.
Afterwards, Sweden jumped, Niklas Edin said, “It was fun to play, definitely. It was back and forth, we made some good shots, some bad shots and there were opportunities in both directions. It was a really fun match to play, tight on time too, so that made it very interesting I think, but a really good win for us. “
Switzerland v Denmark
Switzerland broke the first end of their match against Denmark, before they opened the scoring with two points in the second end after the Swiss jumped over, Yannick Schwaller pulled his last stone in the quadruped.
Switzerland then stole a single in the third when Denmark skips Tobias Thune failed with his double selection attempt. The Swiss stole another single at the fourth end, when Thune took a midfielder with his last stone extraction attempt.
Another one-point steal for Switzerland in the sixth final was enough for Denmark to let in, with the final result 7-0 to Switzerland.
Afterwards, Switzerland jumped over, Yannick Schwaller said: “Our team, as a team, played quite well. The ice felt natural, the line call was good, the assessment of the stones was good. It was just one of those matches where we felt that everything went ours. Denmark had some bad luck on a few occasions, we do not like to look ahead [to play-offs]we just go match by match and come out this afternoon against the USA. “
Korea v Italy
Korea took an early lead in their victory over Italy when the defector, Kim Soo-Hyuk, pulled his last stone in the button to sit next to two other Korean counters, to lead 3-1.
Korea then stole a single point in the fourth and two points in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead to the break.
Italy fought back in the sixth, when the ship Joel Retornaz played a double take over the house to score three points and reduce the deficit to 6-4.
Korea extended its lead by two points in the seventh. Then in the ninth, a draw by Kim Korea gave two more points, after which Italy let in with the final result 10-5 to Korea.
USA against the Netherlands
The USA met the Netherlands and in the fourth end, with the team’s level of 1-1, the USA skipped Korey Dropkin, was left with an open draw to the house for two points and the lead with 3-1.
The Netherlands leveled the game again with two own points in the fifth end. Then after knocking out the sixth, the United States made three in the seventh when Dropkin again stood with an open draw to the house with his last stone.
One-point theft from the United States in both the eighth and ninth end was enough for the Netherlands to admit defeat, with the score 8-3 to the United States.
Session twelve results: Switzerland 7-0 Denmark; Korea 10-5 Italy; USA 8-3 Netherlands; Canada 5-7 Sweden
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