World Men's Curling Championship 2015: Schedule, Predictions, More for Saturday
Another World Men's Curling Championship is almost in the books, as four teams remain in the hunt for the crown in 2015.
Canada (Pat Simmons), Norway (Thomas Ulsrud), Sweden (Niklas Edin) and Finland (Aku Kauste) are still duking it out at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The field of 12 has been dwindled down to perhaps the best four teams of curlers in the world.
Norway and Canada were a dominant 10-1 during the round-robin portion of the tournament, while Sweden (8-3) and Finland (6-5) are in the playoffs as underdogs. Still, this is anybody's game—especially with Simmons and the Canadians dropping to Norway in the 1-2 Page playoff.
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Still, Canada sits in the semifinal matchup scheduled for Saturday without an opponent. The previous match of the day between Sweden and Finland will decide who Canada must take on. With two games on tap for Saturday, the World Men's Curling Championship is almost at its end. Don't miss out on the action.
Below is a schedule for Saturday, as well as predictions as to which teams will advance.
| Page 3-4 | Sweden vs. Finland | 2:30 p.m. | Sweden |
| Semifinals | Canada vs. TBD | 7:30 p.m. | Canada |
Sweden vs. Finland
Sweden was two games better than Finland in round-robin play, and while that may not be enough to sway your opinion one way or the other, then take a look at the world rankings.
WorldCurling.org ranks the Swedish men's team as the No. 2 team in the world behind Canada. Finland checks in at No. 14 behind several teams that were already knocked out of this tournament.
Finland also just barely got to this point, as it took a a single in the 10th end on Kauste's final rock to seal a victory over John Shuster of the United States. This Page 3-4 playoff game will be a far more difficult draw, and Finland cannot afford to let Sweden hang around for long. This is a game that can become one-sided quickly.
And it will get one-sided if Kauste and his team don't improve drastically from Friday's affair. He even admitted to Curling Canada that "some ends we were in horrible trouble."
Sharpening up and converting at higher percents is the main key to competing with Edin and Sweden. Scoring multiple times in an end is also crucial. Of Finland's six points in the tiebreaker against the United States, each point came in a different end. The U.S. had multiple two-point ends.
Finland didn't even participate in last year's World Championships in China, so this showing is already quite a step up from where this team had been previously. Whoever wins faces a tough test in Canada later in the day.
Prediction: Sweden, 7-3
Canada vs. TBD (Winner of Above Match)
Canada is in the driver's seat here, as neither Sweden or Finland should be able to compete with the No. 1 team in the world.
Simmons dropped a 7-6 game to Ulsrud in the Page 1-2 playoff, sending Norway (the defending champs) straight to the title game. Canada must now win in the semifinals to earn a rematch. Ulsrud has been stellar all tournament, including a shooting percentage of 91 percent against Simmons.
It was rare to witness a loss with Simmons as the skip, as CBC Calgary's Devin Heroux tweeted:
It's safe to assume that Canada will bounce back in the semis against Sweden (if the above prediction is correct). Even Finland is a favorable matchup, so Canada shouldn't have problems cruising into the finals.
The gold medal game would be quite the compelling matchup, for a variety of reasons. Norway has some advantages given last year's win in the tournament and Ulsrud's incredible shooting right now, but Simmons rarely loses. One would have to think that he'll take advantage of a second shot at Norway.
Simmons' focus is on Norway. Expect him and the Canadian team to make quick work of whichever team advances to the semifinal earlier in the day.
Prediction: Canada, 7-3
Kenny DeJohn is a Breaking News Team Featured Columnist. Follow him on Twitter.
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