 Glenn Howard smiles during play against Scotland at the World Men's Curling Championship in Basel on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. (Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters) |
The Canadian rink landed a one-two punch Wednesday at the world curling championship, winning twice to keep its undefeated streak alive.
The Canadians improved to 8-0 in the afternoon, clinching a playoff spot with a 10-6 win over Sweden at Basel, Switzerland.
Then they won again in the evening, defeating Scotland 7-5 to guarantee a spot in the Page 1 vs. 2 playoff game Saturday.
"That's goal Number 2 achieved," skip Glenn Howard said after leading Canada past the Scots.
"Number 1, make the playoffs, and Number 2, make the 1-2 game."
With the score 5-5 against Scotland, Howard played a straight raised double in the 10th to knock out the sole Scottish stone in the house and score two.
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The win gave Canada a 9-0 record through 14 sessions and a substantial lead entering round-robin play Thursday. China, Norway and Scotland were bunched in second place at 6-3, while Denmark, Norway and Sweden were tied at 5-4.
France and the U.S. shared eighth spot at 3-6 with the Czech Republic, Germany and Switzerland at 2-7.
In other evening results, Norway edged Germany 7-6; Denmark defeated France 8-3; and the U.S. beat New Zealand 10-4.