Matt Dunstone’s Canadian rink has locked up a playoff berth at the World Men’s Curling Championship after extending its winning streak to six with two victories Wednesday
SAULT STE. MARIE — After starting the World Men’s Curling Championship with two wins and two losses through four games, Matt Dunstone’s Canadian team has reeled off six straight wins and sealed a playoff berth.
The team that includes Sault Ste. Marie’s E.J. and Ryan Harnden at second and lead along with Caleb Flaxey coaching grabbed two more wins on Wednesday at the 13-team event in Ogden, Utah.
With the wins, Team Dunstone has a record of 8-2 heading into the final day of round-robin play on Thuesday.
The roll continued on Wednesday morning for the Dunstone rink thanks to a tight 8-7 win over Switzerland’s Marco Hoesli in the early draw.
After Hoesli scored three in the ninth end to tie the game, Dunstone made a tough draw on his final shot of the 10th to pick up the win.
“Didn’t love the looks of it, didn’t love the feel of it,” said Dunstone in a Curling Canada release in discussing his final shot. “I knew it was heavy out of my hand, and the sweepers weren’t a big fan of what I gave them either, but fortunately that rock had eyes and I’m thankful it did.”
Despite the tight finish, Dunstone also spoke of being happy with much of the game otherwise.
“I mean, that was a game we dominated from pillar to post,” said Dunstone. “Just a bad throw on mine in the ninth kept them back in it. So, ultimately, it was a win that we deserved; it was just a little too close for comfort.”
In Wednesday’s evening draw, Team Dunstone grabbed a 9-5 win over Czechia’s Lukas Klima.
With the game tied at two through three ends, Dunstone scored a single in four and added a steal of two in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead. After the teams traded singles in the following two ends, Klima made it a one-point game with two in the eighth before Dunstone scored three in the ninth to seal the win.
“We have to keep up the pace,” Dunstone said in an interview with TSN following the win. “We’re still playing for that semifinal spot. We have to stick with Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland as we go here. Every game is a big one for us from here on out.”
Dunstone opened the tournament with a pair of wins on opening day before dropping games to Scotland’s Ross Whyte and John Shuster of the United States.
The team entered play on Wednesday as winners of four in a row.
The Dunstone rink is set to wrap up round-robin play on Thursday with a pair of games. The team will face Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz in the afternoon draw before ending the round robin with a game against Norway’s Andreas Haarstad in the evening draw.
While the six teams making the playoffs have been set, the top two teams in the standings after round-robin play advance directly into the semifinal with the remaining four teams playing quarterfinal games on Friday morning. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals later in the day.
