Team Canada clinches playoff spot and holds 7-0 record at the 2026 Paralympic Games

CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy — It was another successful day for Team Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games after improving its record to 7-0 and booking a spot in the Friday morning semifinals.

Two playoff spots were clinched as the ninth session of the mixed team round-robin wrapped up Wednesday morning in the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, and one of them went to Canada.

It was news that reached the Canadians before they took the ice against their Wednesday evening opponent, Team Slovakia. The Canadian squad of skip Mark Ideson (London, Ont.); vice-skip/third Jon Thurston (Dunsford, Ont.); second Ina Forrest (Spallumcheen, B.C.); and lead Gilbert Dash (Kipling, Sask.) improved its perfect record to 7-0 after a gruelling 9-6 victory over the Slovakians.

“[The playoff qualification] doesn’t change anything,” said Forrest. “We still have to figure out how to win in every game we’re playing, and we don’t want to have a loss at any point. We’re still playing to win.”

Wednesday evening’s game got off to another hot start for Team Canada’s side of the scoreboard despite challenging ice conditions, with a solid deuce to open the first end.

The steal of four that came in the second end for the Canadians was sealed at the hands of a missed throw by Slovakian skip Radoslav Duris, who knocked his own stone out of scoring position.

But, it quickly became a tough game for the Canadians who allowed a steal three ends in a row. The 6-0 lead for Canada heading into the third end was short-lived, and a few costly misses helped the Slovakians to tie the game heading into the seventh end.

Team Canada kept the audience on their toes for another pressure-filled eighth end. After a single in the seventh, the Canadians still had their work cut out for them.

“We’re definitely a resilient team,” said Ideson. “It can be challenging when you have a big lead early and let a team back in, but Slovakia earned all those points after that and put the pressure on us throughout. Luckily, we continued to go to school throughout the game and were able to make the shots when we needed to.”

Late in the eighth, the Canadians were sitting two with just the skips’ stones left. Ideson used his last rock to guard the house and take away the draw to secure the steal. Despite having a strong game, the Slovakian skip’s draw attempt was too light.

With a 7-0 record, Team Canada will be one of four teams headed to Friday morning’s semifinals. While reigning Paralympic champion Team China also punched its ticket to the playoffs, the other two teams have yet to be decided.

The standings after Thursday evening’s session will determine the semifinal matchups, using the traditional semifinal format of first vs. fourth and second vs. third to identify the medal finalists.

Fifth Dash took to the Paralympic ice Wednesday evening for the second time, while lead Collinda Joseph (Ottawa) joined coaches Mick Lizmore and Dana Ferguson on the bench. Also supporting Team Canada are team leader Kyle Paquette; team physiotherapist Sari Shatil; team physician Dr. Steven Macaluso; performance science lead Kyle Turcotte; and family and friends coordinator Wendy Morgan.

Team Canada will play twice on Thursday for the last day of round-robin action. The Canadians will face Team South Korea at 8:35 a.m. (all times Eastern) and Team U.S.A. at 1:35 p.m.

For live scoring, team lineups, and standings, CLICK HERE.

All of Canada’s games will be broadcast on a variety of platforms by CBC, the official Paralympic rights-holder in Canada. CLICK HERE for the CBC broadcast schedule.