Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Canada and USA qualify for Paralympics playoffs

In a game that would decide who stood at the top of the table with one day of round robin play to go, Canada (7-1) beat Korea (5-3) by a somewhat flattering score of 6-4.
Canada's steal of one in the second, when a Korean attempted pick buried a Canadian stone on the button, was the difference until the final end. Canada had shot stone buried behind seven stones. Korea called time out. Their options were a fancy double run back, or throw a bomb onto the pile and see what happened.

Korea have the reputation for throwing big weight though they have succeeded by drawing when they had to. This time they chose the big weight option. and they managed to open a port to shot stone.

Jim Armstrong attempted to block it but his draw over-curled. A straight hit and stick by Korea would have left Canada with a tricky shot to save the game. But skip Haksung Kim, revved from his previous shot, over-threw when what was needed was a controlled weight take-out. The shot sailed wide and Canada could smile for the first time in the evening.

USA (6-2) lost a rock on a measurement in the second against Japan, but still posted a six and won 8-2. Italy ruined Norway's hopes of a playoff spot, despite throwing away a 7-2 lead in the eighth. They took 2 in the extra to win 9-7.

Korea, Sweden, Germany and Italy will play for the remaining playoff spots tomorrow. For tables and schedule see our Paralympics page.

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