U.S. MEN ACHIEVE QUARTERFINAL FINISH AT WORLD SENIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022
© WCF/Ansis Ventins
On Apr. 23-30, 2022, Team USA, Bob LeClair, Fred Maxie, Jeff Baird, Tom Danielson, and Greg Gallagher, competed at Curling Club Trois-Chêne /Genève along with 20 other countries in the World Senior Curling Championships 2022.
Team USA began the round robin portion of the event on a high note.
Picking up a 7-3 win over Turkey in the Championship opener, Team USA carried that momentum into their second matchup of the competition against Australia.
In what was an evenly matched scoreboard through the first half, Australia jumped ahead by four points in the fifth end by removing a sole U.S. stone that sat surrounded by Australian counters.
The LeClair-skipped rink blanked the sixth end before scoring two, stealing two, and then stealing one in the extra end to secure a second victory.
After the come from behind victory, the U.S. got back into their groove on Monday, April 25th, dominating the scoreboard against Finland by only allowing Finland to score in two ends, compared the impressive five ends of scoring from the United States.
The U.S. topped Finland 7-3, securing their third win of the competition.
In Tuesday’s matchup against Italy, the U.S. opened with a steal of two before the Italians tied it back up after three ends.
In the fourth end, the U.S. jumped ahead by six and then proceeded to steal four more points in the fifth and sixth ends, resulting in a 12-2 final and improving Team USA’s record to 4-0.
The U.S. extended their record to 5-0 on Wednesday with a 10-2 final score against Slovakia.
The unblemished record through the first five games of competition qualified the U.S. men for the playoffs of the World Senior Curling Championships 2022 even before the conclusion of the round robin, but Thursday’s matchup against the unbeaten Canadians determined playoff seeding.
Canada got off to an early start, scoring two with hammer in the opening end and forcing the United States to a single in the second.
The Canadians scored three more in the third and limited the U.S. to a deuce in the fourth, establishing a 5-3 lead at the close of the first half.
The Americans opened the second half with aggressive play to try to climb back from the deficit, but a combined five points in the fifth and sixth ends from Canada resulted in a 10-3 final score and the first loss of the competition for the United States.
The United States hoped to regain momentum in the quarterfinals on Friday morning against Germany.
The U.S. trailed by one in the eighth end with hammer, but a score of only one sent the game into extra ends.
Germany’s hammer in the extra end proved advantageous as the German’s scored the final point of the game, defeating the U.S. 6-5 and concluding Team USA’s run at the World Senior Curling Championships 2022.
A dominating round robin earned Bob LeClair, Fred Maxie, Jeff Baird, Tom Danielson, and Greg Gallagher a quarterfinal finish at the Team’s World Senior Curling Championships debut.
USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Toyota, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Brakebush, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), and Sitrin, and is partnered with IHG, Rock Solid Productions Inc., Laurie Artiss Ltd. – The Pin People.
