Canada’s Matt Dunstone clinched a spot in the playoffs with two wins at the world men’s curling championship held in Ogden, Utah. In the morning session, he narrowly defeated Switzerland’s Marco Hoesli 8-7 and then continued his winning streak by beating Czechia’s Lukas Klima 9-5 in the evening, bringing his record to 8-2.
Before the evening games, the other five playoff-bound teams – Switzerland, Sweden, Scotland, Italy, and the United States – also secured their spots. Round-robin matches will continue until Thursday night.
During the early match, Dunstone’s team from Winnipeg surrendered three points to Hoesli in the ninth end but managed to secure victory with a draw in the 10th end. Expressing his uncertainty about the shot, Dunstone mentioned that the rock seemed heavy, but it turned out well.
The top two teams in the round-robin standings will receive a bye to the semifinals. Sweden’s Niklas Edin led the standings with a 9-2 record after a dominant 9-1 win over Poland. Scotland’s Ross Whyte joined Canada and Switzerland at 8-2 after defeating Norway’s Andreas Haarstad 7-5.
In the evening game, the Canadian team sealed their victory with three points in the ninth end through Dunstone’s precise execution. Canada’s lead, Ryan Harnden, described their strategy of maintaining a lead and capitalizing on the slow ice conditions to control the game effectively.
In other late games, China’s Xiaoming Xu defeated South Korea’s Changmin Kim 8-4. Italy’s Stefano Spiller and American John Shuster, both with 7-3 records, had no matches scheduled.
Looking ahead, Dunstone emphasized the importance of maintaining their performance to secure a bye for the semifinals and potentially secure first or second place in the standings. The medal matches are set to take place on Saturday.