Gushue and Homan earn wins to remain unbeaten at Pan Continental curling championship

LACOMBE, Alta. — Canada’s Brad Gushue earned two victories Tuesday to remain unbeaten at the Pan Continental curling championships.

Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., defeated American John Shuster 7-5 in the morning and beat Japan’s Shinya Abe 7-5 in the evening draw to secure a playoff spot at 5-0.

“We want to get hammer throughout the playoffs,” Gushue said. “We also just want to get better and better and jell some more with this lineup.”

The team recently added longtime skip Brendan Bottcher at second after parting ways with E.J. Harnden. Bottcher joined a foursome that includes vice Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker.

The United States and China’s Xiaoming Xu, both 4-1, have also qualified for the playoffs. Canada was scheduled to play Australia’s Hugh Millikin on Wednesday at the Gary Moe Auto Group Sportsplex

In women’s play, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan (4-0) needed only six ends to complete a 9-2 victory over New Zealand’s Chelsea Suddens.

Homan, vice Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes shared first place with Japan’s Miyu Ueno and South Korea’s Eunji Gim.

Canada was scheduled to play South Korea and Mexico’s Adriana Camarena on Wednesday.

The competition serves as a qualifier for the 2025 world championships.

Canada has an automatic berth in the men’s worlds as the host country. Homan needs a top-four finish to secure a berth for Canada in the women’s playdowns.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2024.