Canada’s playoff hopes alive after dramatic win at wheelchair curling mixed doubles worlds

Overcome 4-0 deficit against Czech Republic
mx doubles

LOHJA, Finland – Canada chipped away at a 4-0 first end deficit on Tuesday to defeat Czech Republic and keep its playoff hopes alive at the inaugural World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championships.

Marie Wright of Moose Jaw, Sask. and Jamie Anseeuw of Winnipeg have a 3-4 record, good enough for a tie for fifth place. As only the top three in the pool will advance, a win Wednesday over Denmark in their last round robin game could put them in a tie for third, potentially in a log-jam with four other teams.

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

After trailing 4-0 after the first end, Wright and Anseeuw scored once in the second, third and fourth ends and added three in the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. The Canadians added a single in the eighth and final end to assure the win.

Earlier Tuesday, Canada lost 7-5 to Turkey.

With the standings being what they are, the Canadians are not officially out of the playoff picture. They will need a bit of help though.

The good news is that 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 a.m. in Finland (2:30 a.m. ET).

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

For the event livestream visit: https://www.youtube.com/c/CurlingFinlandOfficial/   

With files from Curling Canada