Canada’s Dunstone wins fifth straight, qualifies for playoffs at men’s curling worlds

OGDEN — Matt Dunstone guided Canada into the playoffs at the world men’s curling championship with an 8-7 win over Switzerland on Wednesday.

Canada’s fifth straight win improved its record to 7-2 and guaranteed the Winnipeg-based team a top-six finish when round-robin play ends Thursday night.

Dunstone, who was coming off a 10-3 rout of Sweden’s Niklas Edin on Tuesday evening, was also cruising against Marco Hoesli until the Swiss skip tied the game with three points in the ninth end.

But Dunstone was on target with his draw to the button with his final rock. He was less than satisfied with his final shot at first, but it broke just enough at the right time.

“Didn’t love the looks of it, didn’t love the feel of it,” he said with a smile after the game. “I knew it was heavy out of my hand, and the sweepers weren’t a big fan of what I gave them either, but fortunately that rock had eyes, and I’m thankful it did.”

Canada was scheduled to play Czechia’s Lukas Klima on Wednesday night.

Switzerland and Sweden moved back in front at 8-2 with wins in the afternoon while Canada and Scotland were idle. Sweden downed Germany 8-3 while Switzerland thumped South Korea 9-2.

Italy and the United States also posted victories in the afternoon session to improve to 7-3 and earn the last two playoff spots. The U.S. beat Norway 9-7 in an extra end, while Italy defeated Japan 6-4.

The top two teams in the round-robin standings will get a bye to the semifinals.

“We would have taken this after Saturday and Sunday (losses to Scotland and U.S.) for sure,” said Dunstone. “I know we’re on a little bit of a run now, but we have three tough games left. We have to keep the pedal down and keep on going.

“That bye would be big, for sure, just given the schedule and not having to go back-to-back games on Friday. But we’ll take it one at a time and hopefully give ourselves a chance to lock up first or second tomorrow.”

Ross Whyte’s Scotland team posted a 9-3 win over China on Wednesday morning and was set to face Norway in the evening, while Sweden was scheduled to take on Poland.

In other early action, the U.S. beat Poland 6-3 while Czechia edged Japan 7-6.

The medal games are scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.