'A sixth gold medal would mean a lot' - Niklas Edin's Sweden to face Canada in World Curling Championship final
BySportsbeat
Updated 10/04/2022 at 14:36 GMT
Sweden are hoping to secure their fourth successive world title after beating Italy in the semi-finals while Canada saw off the hosts in Las Vegas. "That was superb. We really focussed hard for the play-offs here," Sweden skip Niklas Edin said after the win over Italy. "We were precise with what we did there."
Niklas Edin
Image credit: Getty Images
Defending champions Sweden kept their bid for another gold medal in the LGT World Men's Curling Championships on track by beating Italy 8-4 in the semi-finals.
Sweden will be facing rivals Canada in Sunday's clash for the world title, while Italy and hosts USA will battle it out for bronze.
Saturday's semi-final saw Sweden wipe the floor with a struggling Italy, opening the scoring in the second end when skip Niklas Edin played a hit for two points.
The Swedes were leading 3-1 going into the fifth end, during which Edin made a pivotal move by playing an angle raise take-out to score four points and extend the lead to 7-1.
Italy were unable to recover but showed their resilience as skip Joel Retornaz responded with a point, and took single steals in both the seventh and eighth ends.
But the definitive blow came in the ninth end when Edin played a draw to take a final point and win 8-4.
The win gives Edin a chance of taking his fourth successive title and sixth world crown in total.
He said: "That was superb. We really focussed hard for the play-offs here. We were precise with what we did there.
"We're really happy that we took the opportunity to score the four points - a steal there and it could have been a totally different game. All in all, that was an outstanding performance by all the team members.
"A sixth gold medal would mean a lot, particularly this season with Olympic gold. I think that we're better than ever and if we win this one too, we would be satisfied with this whole Olympic cycle."
In the other semi-final, Canada earned a dominant 8-5 win over the USA to book their place in the showpiece.
After blanking the first end, Canada's skip Brad Gushue played a double take-out to put two points on the board.
American skip Korey Dropkin responded in the third end with a raise take-out to score one point but Canada brought it back to extend their lead 3-2.
Canada built their advantage to 5-2 in the sixth end but the host nation tried to hit back by securing another point.
Dropkin had one last go to try and salvage a win, playing a draw that scored two points after an umpire's measure, and went into the final end trailing by just one point.
But Dropkin's draw didn't curl enough as Canada took two shot-stones to win 8-5.
Gushue said: "The ice seemed okay. We had some bad throws early in the game, but we cleaned it up.
"It's been a long year and a lot of pressure, so getting a rest for a few hours definitely benefitted everybody.
"[Sweden] are playing well - they're made for this event. They get to come here every year and enjoy it and play well. So, it's going to be a battle tomorrow.
"The benefit that we have over playing them the last few times is that we have hammer to start."
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