Hardly anything went Brad Gushue’s way in his opening match at the men’s world curling championships on Saturday in Ottawa.

Some stones are picked. Another shot just missed. And a tough Swiss team is making the Canadians pay.

Yannick Schwaller delivered an emphatic 8-3 win over Canada in his round-robin opener that essentially ended in the fifth final break.

“It was terrible,” Gushue said. “We haven’t been kicked like that in a long time.”

Canada bounced back to the evening’s draw with a 10-6 victory over Italian Joel Retornaz.

WATCH | Gushue leads Canada past Italy:

Canada enters the competition with aplomb after a strong showing in the national playdown last month. The adoring home crowd at TD Place was eager to show them some love.

But Schwaller and Swiss fourth Benoit Schwarz applied pressure from the start with quality shots that put Canada behind.

The Swiss deuce was followed by strength at the end of the second. Gushue rock was picked up in the third set, heading for another Swiss pair.

A 7-1 lead after six games ended for a tempting handshake. But the Canadians persevered and used the late end to get a better feel for the ice and conditions.

“It’s hard to find a partner out there,” said Canadian representative Mark Nichols. “So I think the last few goals were more learning and trying to stay in it.”

foreign territory

This is foreign territory for a team that was on the losing end. Gushue could only chuckle and shrug afterward.

His initial reaction was to refer to CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s memorable description of the US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020.

“It was a hot mess, in a dumpster fire, in a train wreck.”

WATCH | Gushue fell to Swiss Schwaller in the opener:

Canadian Gushue fell to Swiss Schwaller in the men’s curling world opener

Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland defeated Brad Gushue of Canada 8-3 in the opening draw at the men’s world curling championship.

Gushue tapped in the late seventh for deuce to finally give the crowd something to cheer for.

He acknowledged his attempt with a self-deprecating wave of his hand.

“When I’m successful, I play with the audience a little bit,” Gushue said. “But (the game) frustrated me.”

The veteran Skip said he was quite happy with the 16 he threw but he still finished with a low of 70 percent.

“I threw them really well,” he said. “We definitely didn’t have the broom in the right place.”

Nichols isn’t much better at 73 percent. Schwarz, meanwhile, finished with 84 percent.

In the evening draw, Canada jumped to an early 4-1 lead and Retornaz threw an empty try in the fifth to make it a four-point game.

Italy’s jump was tough with a draw in seventh to give Canada a chance for three. Gushue pulled the four-foot ring to take full control of the game.

WATCH | That Curling Show — Gushue prepares to face the world’s best on home ice:

That Curling Show: Team Gushue gears up to take on the world’s best athletes on home ice

Curling Show hosts Colleen Jones and Devin Heroux chased bronze medalist Kerri Einarson after the women’s world, previewed the men’s world championships, announced a major team shake-up in Saskatchewan, and released the schedule for next season’s Super Series Mixed Doubles.

Earlier, defending champion Niklas Edin of Sweden won 8-2 over Sixten Totzek of Germany. Bruce Mouat of Scotland beat Italy 7-4 and Byeongjin Jeong of South Korea beat Anton Hood of New Zealand 8-2.

In Series 2, Lukas Klima of the Czech Republic beat New Zealand 8-1 and Magnus Ramsfjell of Norway beat American John Shuster 8-5.

Ugurcan Karagoz of Türkiye brought down a 4-3 decision to Japan’s Riku Yanagisawa at the extra end. It was Türkiye’s first appearance at the men’s world championships.

The competition continues until April 9th.

Gushue, from St. John’s, won a silver medal at last year’s world championships in Las Vegas. His only world title came in 2017 in Edmonton.

WATCH | Gushue wins Brier 2023:

Gushue and his Canadian rink captured another Brier title

Canadian midfielder Brad Gushue captured his fifth Brier title by beating Matt Dunstone of Manitoba 7-5 at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario.

The opening ceremony of the Turkish team’s absence

Turkey’s first appearance got off to an inauspicious start on Saturday as the team was absent for the opening ceremony of the event.

Curlers from the other 13 teams are on hand to be introduced at TD Place to kick off the nine-day competition.

In the absence of Turkish players, the hosts in the arena simply announced the name of the country and the flag bearer walked out alone.

In an email, a spokesperson for the World Curling Federation said the Turkish curlers “did not show up for the opening.” There are no plans for fines or disciplinary action, he added.

The Canadian team that won gold at the 1993 men’s world championships were honored during the ceremony.

Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh and Peter Corner beat Scotland 8-4 in that year’s final in Geneva.

The cast reunited on Saturday – complete in a vintage white Canadian jacket – and Russ threw the ceremonial first stone while his brother held a broom.