Canada's Gushue set to face Sweden in semis following loss to Great Britain
Canada sat in 3rd regardless of win or loss after ROC, Switzerland losses Wednesday
Canada's Brad Gushue will continue his march to Olympic gold in a semifinal game against Sweden Thursday morning in men's curling action.
Gushue's rink fell 5-2 to top-seeded Great Britain (8-1) in its last round robin game, but had already locked up the third seed coming into it.
The top four out of 10 competing countries advance.
Canada scored two points in the second end, and didn't score again in the loss. They will now go into the semifinal game having dropped two in a row, falling to the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on Tuesday.
"Very poor game but the game didn't really matter too much in the whole standings. We set out a couple of goals that we tried to achieve in that game. Unfortunately we didn't do it, so that's a little disappointing," Gushue said. "We have an opportunity now to come back tonight and play a solid game and looking forward to it.
"We were pretty conscious of not going all in today because we do have tonight. But you still want to go out and give your best effort and I don't think we quite did that today."
WATCH | Canada falls to Great Britain, will face Sweden in semis:
Sweden (7-2), which lost to Switzerland 10-8, was set to be the second seed having lost to Great Britain earlier in the round robin. The reigning Olympic champion U.S. (5-4), which defeated Denmark 7-5 in its final round robin, will play Great Britain as the fourth seed.
Both semifinal games will take place on Thursday at 7:05 a.m. ET.
WATCH | That Curling Show breaks down all the playoff scenarios for Canadian teams:
Gushue acknowledged his trust in their experience, but that more will be needed to best Sweden.
"We need to give our best effort. I think we need to just try and play a little bit more loose than what we have been," he said. "I think the moment's getting to some of us and we just need to take a breath and realize it's only a game and we're capable of making every shot. If we do that, I think we'll have a good chance.
"I think we have enough experience that we can do it but it probably is easier said than done. But I do trust our experience."
Losses from both the ROC and Switzerland on Wednesday gave Canada (5-4) an escape from having to play in a do-or-die to stay in medal contention.
Gushue's rink initially had an opportunity to secure a spot in the semifinals but the loss to the ROC dropped them to 5-3.
Having defeated the U.S. earlier in the round robin, Canada was guaranteed the third seed regardless of a win or loss to Great Britain.
All competitions will be streamed live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website.
WATCH | Jamie Korab joins That Curling Show to discuss the pressure Team Gushue is facing in Beijing:
