Canadian skips lock up playoff berths at Pan Continental Curling Championships

Canadian skips Brad Gushue and Kerri Einarson clinched playoff berths at the Pan Continental Curling Championships.

Gushue, of St. John’s, N.L., skipped Canada to an 8-1 win over Taiwan’s Randy Shen on Wednesday morning in the men’s A division round robin to guarantee a spot in Friday’s semifinal at the Kelowna Curling Club.

He built off that momentum and defeated Australia’s Jay Merchant 9-4 on Wednesday night to improve his team’s record to 5-1.

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Team Gushue wraps up round-robin play on Thursday afternoon against Guyana’s Rayad Husain before entering must-win territory.

“I think the key for us is just to get off to a good start; come out like it’s a playoff game, and get ready for Friday,” said Gushue in a press release.

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“I don’t think we want to come out and just go through the motions. We have to pay Guyana some respect and be ready to play.

“Hopefully if we play well in the first few ends, we can get a lead and keep things simple. But the start of the game is going to be the key.”

Einarson’s team will advance to Thursday night’s women’s A division semifinal despite losing 9-8 to South Korea’s Eunji Gim on Wednesday.

Canada scored four in the ninth end to take an 8-7 lead, but South Korea came back and scored two in the 10th with a difficult final shot to earn the win.

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“We made some really great shots in the ninth end and we were set up really good in the 10th,” Einarson said of the game’s end.

“We didn’t think Korea’s shot was there, and we thought it would spring off the other.”

While Canada lost, its 3-3 record was enough to qualify after New Zealand’s Jessica Smith (2-4) and Mexico’s Adriana Camarena (1-5) also lost on Wednesday afternoon.

Einarson, of Gimli, Man., wraps up the round-robin on Thursday morning against Mexico.

“We just want to go out there and leave it all out there,” Einarson said.

“It’s such an honour wearing the Maple Leaf and we absolutely love it. Thank you, everyone, for cheering for us and we’re going to give it our all.”

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OTHER RESULTS

Japan beat New Zealand 6-4, South Korea beat the United States 8-3 and Australia beat Guyana 9-4 in the men’s morning session.

Taiwan beat Guyana 9-3, Japan beat the United States 4-2 and New Zealand beat South Korea 8-5 in the men’s evening session.

Taiwan beat Mexico 6-5, Australia beat New Zealand 9-7 and Japan beat the United States 8-3 in women’s play in the afternoon.