1 November 2023
United States, Japan and Korea women secure Pan Continental semi-final spots
United States beat Canada by 7-5 in the women’s fifth round-robin session on Tuesday evening. This result gives them a clear lead at the top of the table, with an unbeaten record of five wins, and qualifies them for the play-offs and this season’s BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship.
Earlier on Tuesday, in the fourth session, the Americans had beaten Mexico by 10-2.
Speaking after her second win of the day, over Canada, American skip Tabitha Peterson said, “We’re qualified [for the play-offs and the worlds] now. That’s our number one goal, so we’ll check that one off and let’s go for the next goal, which is to win everything.”
In the evening session, Korea beat Japan by 8-2, and this result means that both these teams have qualified for the play-offs and the world championship next March.
On Tuesday morning, Japan had beaten Chinese Taipei by 10-1 while Korea were 9-2 winners over Australia.
At the other end of the table, Chinese Taipei recorded their first win so far, beating Australia by 7-4 in the evening – a significant result in eventually deciding who will be relegated. Meanwhile, New Zealand beat Mexico by 12-4, a second win for the New Zealanders, putting them into clear fifth place on the table – the final qualifying slot for the world championship.
Men’s A-Division
With a hard-fought 6-4 win over Guyana in the fourth round-robin session, Korea moved into a clear top spot on the table, with an unblemished record on four wins.
This game went all the way to the tenth end when finally Korean skip Park Jongduk took a single point with an open hit for the win.
Guyana have not been closer to their opening win this week and afterwards skip Rayad Husain said, “That was one of the better games that we’ve played. Korea is obviously a very good team and at this point in the tournament we’ve got nothing to lose, being at the bottom of the basement. But we’re capable of better and there’s still a-ways to go. It’s just a matter of working ourselves into the tournament.”
Elsewhere, Canada toppled Japan with a 6-3 win to bring Japan’s unbeaten record to an end. In their game against Australia, United States started off strong with scores of two in the first and third ends to take an early 4-1 lead. This eventually led to their 8-3 victory in eight ends.
New Zealand had the strongest start of all in this afternoon session, scoring four points in the first end and then stealing four more in the second against Chinese Taipei. The Kiwis eventually went onto a 10-3 win in six ends.
Afterwards, New Zealand skip Anton Hood said, “I think we were a little fortunate to get the lead that we did. Plan ‘A’ is just to play as well as we can. We’re always searching for consistency, that’s the number one goal. We’re getting closer, and as a team I think we’re growing. We’re just thinking play-offs, and if we make the play-offs, we make the worlds.”
These results mean that Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia share second place behind Korea, on three wins and one loss. Australia, Guyana and Chinese Taipei are still looking for a first win out of four games.
B-Division updates
In the only session of the day in the women’s B-Division, China beat Kenya by 13-0, while Jamaica defeated Brazil by 10-5.
These results mean that both winning teams maintained their unbeaten records on three wins and no losses. In the other game of the session, Hong Kong beat Philippines by 10-5 to stay in third place.
In the fourth session of the men’s B-Division, China beat Philippines by 9-4 to establish a clear lead on the table, with four wins and no losses. India had an 11-3 victory over Saudi Arabia, to go into joint second place alongside Philippines. Meanwhile, Brazil won over Kenya by 16-2 and Hong Kong beat Mexico by 6-3.
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