By Gregory Strong - The Canadian Press

Japan’s Matsumura dumps Canada’s Koe 9-3 at world men’s curling championship

Apr 3, 2019 | 2:28 PM

LETHBRIDGE — Canada’s Kevin Koe was not expecting to run the table at the world men’s curling championship like he did at the Tim Hortons Brier.

The surprise on Wednesday was that his first defeat — a 9-3 loss to Japan’s Yuta Matsumura — came in blowout fashion. The result knocked Koe out of first place and stopped his 24-game winning streak.

“It ended with a bit of an abrupt thud,” Koe said. “But a loss is a loss. It was never going to go on forever, that’s for sure.”

Koe’s last defeat came in the Alberta playdowns last February. He rolled to victory at the nationals last month before winning his first six round-robin games at the Enmax Centre.

That momentum was sapped in a hurry by an efficient Japanese side that started strong and didn’t let up.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

Koe missed a double takeout attempt in the first end and Japan made an open draw for two. Koe was forced to a single in the second and Matsumura hit a nose double for five points in the third.

“We were in trouble really all end and didn’t really have a chance to bail,” Koe said.

The teams shook hands after the minimum six ends.

The result moved Japan into sole possession of first place at 7-1 after 12 draws. Canada fell into a three-way tie with Switzerland’s Peter De Cruz and defending champion Niklas Edin of Sweden at 6-1. 

“We just didn’t come out very sharp and they were,” said Canada third B.J. Neufeld. “They put a lot of pressure on us early. We just couldn’t wriggle out of some bad situations.”

Japan finished at 90 per cent overall while Canada was at 84 per cent. Japan had three players shoot 100 per cent on their hits.

“They just executed so well today, they weren’t missing,” said Japan coach Bob Ursel. “The skip just made some phenomenal shots for the big end there.”

De Cruz and Edin did not play in the morning draw. Koe was scheduled to play Edin on Wednesday night.

Neufeld said the team gave up some five-enders on the Grand Slam circuit this season. However, it was the first time in this competition that Canada had given up more than a deuce in a single end.

“It happens,” he said. “We got into a situation where we were forced to put the game on the line a little bit. We just didn’t make the shots to get out of it.”

Matsumura, the world No. 27, has earned four titles this season, including the Oakville Fall Classic and the Pacific-Asia championship.

He’s making his second appearance at the worlds after finishing sixth in 2015. It was his first career meeting against the Calgary-based team.

“We didn’t really get any pressure on them,” Koe said. “We were kind of chasing all game. It’s tough to take too much out of that game.

“If we play them again, I’m sure it would be a different story.”

In other early games, Jaap Van Dorp of the Netherlands doubled China’s Qiang Zou 10-5, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat beat Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell 8-4 and American John Shuster defeated Italy’s Joel Retornaz 8-3.

Entering the afternoon draw, the United States was alone in fifth place at 5-2. Italy and Scotland were tied in sixth at 4-3 and the Netherlands was 3-4.

Round-robin play continues through Friday night. Six teams will make the weekend playoffs and the medal games are set for Sunday.