Mark Ideson Sends Canada to Paralympic Gold Final
mark ideson produced a decisive hit-and-roll in the eighth end to lift Canada to an 8-7 semi-final win over the Republic of Korea, sending Canada into the Paralympic wheelchair mixed team curling gold-medal game against the People’s Republic of China. The outcome ends Canada’s final drought since 2014 and sets up China’s third consecutive Paralympic final.
Mark Ideson seals Canada final
Canada’s semi-final against the Republic of Korea turned on late-game execution and a dramatic miss. In the third end Korea stole two when Mark Ideson came up short with his last draw, and Korea extended that lead to 7-4 after an around-the-horn shot by Lee Hyeon Chul in the sixth. In the eighth, mark ideson played a perfect hit-and-roll to sit three on the four-foot before Lee’s last; Lee’s run-back attempt missed all Canadian counters, Korea conceded a steal of three and Canada won 8-7. The sequence suggests Ideson’s shot under pressure was the single decisive swing that reversed a multi-end deficit and handed Canada the victory. After the game, an emotional Mark Ideson said, “I’m tired! It was a battle… I’m really proud of the way our team hung in there, ” underlining how the rink’s resilience mattered in the closing ends.
Team China reaches third final
Team China advanced to the gold-medal match with a 7-6 semi-final victory over Sweden that hinged on precise draws and a late steal. China started with hammer and scored a single, and after several exchanged ends China produced a three-point sixth end with three perfect draws to lead 6-4. Sweden tied the game 6-6 in the seventh, but in the eighth Sweden’s run-back attempt failed and Team China did not need to throw their final to win 7-6. The pattern suggests China’s ability to convert multiple-draw ends and force errors late is what sustained them; this win puts China into its third consecutive Paralympic final. Afterward, Zhang Qiang described it as a first Winter Paralympic journey for him and said qualifying for the final showed that “our efforts in these past four years paid off. ”
Korea and Sweden for bronze
The remaining medal match pairs Team Korea and Sweden in the bronze-medal game, and the schedule now places that game ahead of the final. Canada reached the semi-finals after an unbeaten 9-0 round-robin run that included a 7-3 win over the United States and a 6-3 earlier win over South Korea; Canada clinched its semi-final spot on Wednesday and entered the knockout stage as the lone undefeated team. Jon Thurston, Ina Forrest, Collinda Joseph and alternate Gilbert Dash joined Mark Ideson on the Canadian rink, and Ideson said the unbeaten run felt “pretty special” while emphasizing the team still had work to do. The figures point to a Canadian side that built momentum through perfect round-robin form and then relied on late-end execution to reach the final.
The next confirmed event is the bronze-medal game between Team Korea and Sweden on Friday at 18. 05 CET (12: 05 pm ET). If Korea and Sweden produce the close, end-by-end contests shown in the semi-finals, the final on Saturday at 15. 05 CET (9: 05 am ET) between Team China and Canada will likely hinge on which rink sustains precision in draws and avoids critical misses in the final ends.
