Staff
Team Canada edged Poland 4-3 earlier today to stay alive in the playoff round at the world mixed curling championships in Champéry, Switzerland.
The rink, which features Stratton siblings Trevor Bonot and Jackie McCormick at skip and third, then faced Russia starting at noon (CDT) today with a berth in tomorrow’s semi-finals on the line.
The outcome of that game wasn’t known as of press time.
The gold- and bronze-medal games go later tomorrow.
Canada jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Poland this morning with a deuce in the first end.
After blanking the second and third ends, Poland trimmed the gap to 2-1 with a single in the fourth.
Canada got one back in the fifth, then stole a crucial point in the sixth to lead 4-1.
Poland refused to roll over, though–getting one in the seventh to pull within 4-2.
Skip Andrzej Augustyniak then managed to steal one in the eighth but it was too little, too late.
It was the second time Canada faced Poland at the competition, having earned a 5-3 win Sunday in their second game of round-robin play.
The Bonot rink, which also includes Megan and Kory Carr of Thunder Bay at lead and second, beat Germany 5-2 yesterday to finish atop Pool ‘E’ with a 6-0 record.
Canada opened with a deuce before Germany got a single in the second.
After blanking the third and fourth ends, Canada scored another deuce in the fifth to lead 4-1.
The teams traded singles in the sixth and seventh ends before Canada ran Germany out of rocks in the eighth.
“The game tonight [Thursday] was great–our best overall game so far,” Bonot told the Times via e-mail.
“Which is nice as we head into the playoffs.”
Bonot also again thanked everyone back home for all their support.
Canada is coached by Jim Waite.
The other quarter-final matches pit the Czech Republic against Estonia, Scotland versus Sweden, and Turkey taking on Norway.
The United States was eliminated earlier today with a 6-5 loss to Sweden while China fell 6-4 to the Czech Republic.
