Eight Ends is your daily one-stop shop for all things curling with news, notes, insight and analysis through the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Plus, when Rachel Homan tells us to stop sweeping, we obey.
First End: We’re starting to finally see some separation in the mixed doubles standings. Italy remains out front, undefeated at 6-0, and became the first to qualify for the playoffs. Sweden (5-2) sits in second followed by Great Britain and Canada (both at 4-2), tied for third.
As Kevin Martin explains in the latest episode of the Inside Curling podcast’s Daily Draw, when it comes to a nine-game round-robin format, a 7-2 record is the goal you aim for entering the event, 6-3 is still safe, but as soon as you slip to 5-4, you’ll need some help. Since there are no tiebreaker games, that’s where head-to-head records and — if more than two teams are tied — draw-to-the-button shootout totals become critical.
Second End: There’s reason to be skeptical of Italy’s surprising start, given its schedule was backend-loaded with the three medal favourites (Great Britain, Sweden and Canada) during its final four games. The pair of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner passed the first major test, upsetting Great Britain 7-5 during Draw 9 Saturday.
Constantini has been an MVP front-runner and came through in the clutch, shooting 80 per cent, including a fantastic shot in the seventh that was dangerously close to crashing on the guard but got by to punch out Great Britain’s counter to score three and make it 7-4. The 22-year-old Constantina made another excellent shot with her last in the eighth — and at risk of losing the game with only 11 seconds left of thinking time — and Great Britain accepted defeat knowing there was no shot at even tying it up to force an extra. Make no mistake, Italy is legit.
Italy’s Stefania Constantini, smiles after winning the mixed doubles match against Norway, at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (Nariman El-Mofty/AP)
Third End: Considering how massive having the last-rock advantage is, it should become standard in the future for broadcasts to show the pre-game draw-to-the-button shootout to determine hammer. They show the coin toss in football, after all. Full disclosure, Sportsnet shows a recapped version during its Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling broadcasts.
Canada has had a bizarre run so far as it’s 0-2 when starting with the hammer and 4-0 without. Typically, it should be the other way around but it shows how resilient Rachel Homan and John Morris have been. As for whether or not that will eventually bite them, remember it’s the cumulative total that factors into tiebreakers, not whether you won the shootout or not, so you could be inches away from losing out on the hammer every time but still end up with a decent result.
Fourth End: After a setback to start against Great Britain, Sweden is on fire with Almida de Val dialled in while Oskar Eriksson is always dialled in as an amazing sharpshooter. They brought their A-game against Switzerland in Draw 7 winning 6-1 and then brought their A-plus game against Canada in Draw 8, stymying Homan and Morris 6-2. Call it a day of straight sets as those are remarkable scores in tennis and are equally impressive in curling, too. Neither de Val nor Eriksson missed a shot against Canada during the first half of the match, shooting 100 per cent and 96 per cent, respectively, through four ends.
With their first crack of the hammer in the fourth, Eriksson chiselled a great double that set the table as Homan had to attempt a triple that missed and allowed de Val to ease her last in for three points and pull away 5-1. Canada had to call its power play in the fifth for the first time since its opening game against Great Britain but couldn’t capitalize and only scored a single. After Sweden matched with an insurance-maker in the sixth, Canada didn’t even bother to throw its last in the seventh with no shot to score.
Fifth End: Canada and the U.S. team of Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys entered Draw 9 with identical 3-2 records. You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourselves when it comes to playoffs but as we head into the back half of the round-robin schedule, it becomes an extra pivotal matchup. Johnny Mo, who struggled with draw weight against Sweden, got his mojo back, delivering a more consistent performance and coach Scott Pfeifer did a good job keeping things light and loose during the fourth-end break chat with the score tied 2-2. Pfeifer dropped this gem of a Dad joke: “Why did the invisible man turn down the job offer? He just couldn’t see himself doing it.”
Maybe that was the key to a strong fifth end. Persinger had to navigate through a tight port of guards and made it, but didn’t curl enough on the tap and a measurement awarded Canada a stolen point. The U.S. called its power play in the sixth, but Canada scored “short-handed” on another steal. Homan made an excellent hit and roll to magnet-lock freeze for shot rock and partially hide behind Canada’s guard, and Persinger couldn’t get by that pesky guard. Persinger and Plys were hoping to hold Canada to another single steal in the seventh, but whiffed on a double raise attempt to tack three more stolen points onto the scoreboard and bring out the handshakes. The power of Dad jokes, I tell ya.
Sixth End: This is 40. A special happy birthday shoutout to Marc Kennedy, who is appearing in his third Winter Olympic Games as the alternate for Brad Gushue’s team. Kennedy, who captured gold with Kevin Martin’s squad in 2010, arrived in Beijing early to assist Pfeifer on the bench and potentially jump in if Morris was unable to go at the start of the mixed doubles tournament.
It also must be special for Kennedy to sit side-by-side with fellow St. Albert, Alta., native Pfeifer, and both are also two of the best left-handed curlers of all time.
Oh, hi, Marc! Canadian alternate Marc Kennedy keeps an eye on the action during mixed doubles curling play at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Thursday, February 3, 2022. (Paul Chiasson/CP)
Seventh End: It might seem strange at first to see Great Britain or Canada not at least attempt a final shot, but sportsmanship is part of the fabric in curling and it’s considered honourable to accept defeat and give kudos to your opponent. It’s also why players apologize when they fluke their way into a good shot, as Plys did against Canada in the fourth end when the U.S. missed an open hit but called an audible and pulled off a neat double takeout instead to get a single point.
Eighth End: Canada has a much easier pair of games on tap facing Czech Republic (Sunday, 1:05 a.m. ET) and Australia (7:05 a.m. ET), but Homan and Morris should aim to maintain a high-octane pace and not ease up with Italy (8:05 p.m. ET) on deck for the round-robin finale.
Another game to keep an eye on during Draw 12 (7:05 a.m. ET) is Italy vs. Sweden in — wait for it — a potential preview of the gold-medal match. Both teams have looked like the head of the class and it should be a curling clinic. As for who should win? Sweden will likely be considered the slight favourite based on de Val and Eriksson’s past success as reigning world bronze medallists, but we know better by now than to doubt Italy even as an apparent underdog.
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