2009 Ford Worlds, Draw #5: Canada vs. ChinaEnds 6 - 8

Ms. Eclectic asserts that no matter how poorly most skips are curling, the curling is still substantially better than that at the women's worlds.

End #6: Canada is without the hammer and has a mess of rocks in the centre of the rings, while China has a corner guard and a tap-back, which Canada removes. It just looks as if China can make okay shots that would be good at the club level, but not good enough when playing against Martin's rink.

Once again Scotland scores four, and the commenters say it's not the ice, it's the mistakes.

Canada has four in the house, China has one corner guard and the hammer and is clearly struggling. I wonder how long this will go on. Canada still has four in the rings and China still has only a corner guard after missing a bunch of hit-and-rolls. Liu hits and sticks, but Canada is shot to steal one.
Canada 8, China 2

End #7: Meek comes in for Ben Hebert. And the end starts the same as the last one did.

Alan thinks it must be something more than just mistakes leading to three 4-enders and four 3-enders. I cannot figure what else it might be. Any ideas?

As the end unfolds, the guards are gone, and each team has only one rock in the rings and no guards. This is a more defensive style of play for Canada. China puts up another guard. Morris removes a bunch of stones but leaves one Chinese rock in the house. Wang puts up a mediocre guard rather than splitting the rings. An odd decision. Morris comes around the guard and takes out the CH rock, rolling into the open. Wang draws around the guard, but Martin goes off his own to remove the CH rock and lie one in the open. Liu makes a near-perfect draw around the guard to the top of the button. Martin tapped it but not enough, leaving Liu with a draw for two.
Canada 8, China 4 so I guess they can't really shake hands at this point.

End #8: As the 8th end develops, Canada has a rock on the button, China has one in the top 8 and a centre-line guard. Canada removes the centre-line guard. Guard, peel. Guard, peel. I don't understand this strategy, since it almost guarantees Canada a deuce. Finally Liu goes into the rings and taps Canada's rock off the button (but still lying shot). Martin peels the guard, allowing Liu an opportunity to tap (I don't understand Martin's strategy either). The tap ends up on the button, frozen to a Cdn rock, but Martin has a clear shot at a double, but he knocked his own rock out the back, and scored only one. Nevertheless, China shakes hands.

Final Score: Canada 9, China 4