Canada loses to Norway to finish fourth at mixed doubles worlds

GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of — Martine Roenning and Mathias Braenden of Norway stole singles in the fourth, fifth and eighth ends to defeat Team Canada 6-2 in the bronze-medal final at the world mixed doubles curling championship on Saturday in South Korea.

The Canadian combo of Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing finished the round robin portion of the 20-country event on top of Group A with an 8-1 record. Norway finished tied for second in Group B with a 7-2 record.

In the fourth end against Norway, Jones attempted a tap for two, but it didn’t curl enough, giving Norway one point for a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth end, Jones faced a slash into a pile of Norwegian stones, but missed the stone completely, giving the Norwegians another steal, for a 4-1 advantage.

Jones made a game-saving tap for a single in the sixth end on their power-play, making the score 4-2.

Norway’s Roenning made a draw to the button on their power-play for one point and a 5-2 lead as they played the eighth end.

In the final end, with the angles favouring Norway, Jones attempted a raise takeout to generate multiple points but missed, giving Norway the win.

"We had a couple chances (to score multiple points early),” said Jones. “We just didn’t quite make the big shots when we had to. But I’m really proud of our week. We just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be in the playoffs.”

Canada was beaten 6-2 by the United States in the semifinals, dropping them to the third-place game. Norway lost 6-5 to Japan in the other semifinal.

“(I feel) Incredible right now. If you told me (this would happen) a couple of weeks ago, I’d be super happy. I think Thomas (our coach) helped us during the week and it worked out really good," said Braenden.

The United States beat Japan 8-2 in the final to win its first-ever world mixed doubles curling gold medal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2023.