Matt Dunstone, skip of Team Manitoba-Dunstone releases his stone during Page 1 vs. 2 qualifiers at the Montana's Brier Canadian men's curling championship, in St. John's, N.L., on Friday, March 6, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly
Republished March 29, 2026 - 4:20 PM
Original Publication Date March 29, 2026 - 3:31 PM
OGDEN, UTAH — It was another tough outing for Canada's Matt Dunstone at the world men's curling championship.
Dunstone's rink suffered a 9-3 setback to John Shuster of the United States in seven ends Sunday. After opening the competition with two consecutive wins, the Canadians have now lost two straight after dropping an 8-3 decision to Scotland's Ross Whyte in eight ends Saturday night.
The Americans opened the contest scoring two in the first end before the Canadians cut the deficit to 2-1 through two. But the U.S. countered with two more in the third, and then after Canada scored one in the fourth, came back with four in the fifth for a commanding 8-2 advantage.
Dunstone's team added another single in the sixth but the Americans rounded out the scoring with their last point in the seventh and final end. The U.S. evened its record at 2-2 with the victory.
“Early on, it's tough not getting the hammer (in the first end) and I think it starts there for us,” said Dunstone, who’s backed up by third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Geoff Walker, team coach Caleb Flaxey and national coach Jeff Stoughton.
“John made two great shots in one and three to score deuces and then we're in chase mode from there. We're just a little bit off, and it’s one of those stretches. But the good thing for us, we're 2-and-2 and we would all be the first ones to admit that we're not playing remotely close to what we're capable of. And, it all starts with me.
"We have an opportunity (Monday) morning to get back to where we need to be.”
Canada resumes action Monday with two games. It faces Poland in the morning draw before taking on Japan in the evening.
In other Sunday afternoon games, Scotland (3-2) dispatched Poland's Konrad Stych 7-2; China’s Xiaoming Xu (2-2) downed Norway’s Andreas Haarstad (0-4) 9-4; and Switzerland’s Marco Hoesli (4-0) remained undefeated with a 9-7 extra-end triumph over Czechia’s Lukas Klima (1-4).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2026.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2026