Team Einarson/Gushue skip Kerri Einarson, right, seen at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Calgary, Alta., on March 25, 2021. Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue lost to Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt on Wednesday.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Canada’s Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue have suffered their first loss at the world mixed doubles curling championship.
Einarson and Gushue lost 8-5 to Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt on Wednesday, dropping Canada’s record to 3-1.
Australia (1-3) scored two in the sixth end and one in the seventh and eighth to pull out the win.
Canada was in a four-way tie for first in Group A with Italy, Scotland and the Czech Republic.
The Canadians were to face South Korea later Wednesday.
Einarson, from Camp Morton, Man., and Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., must finish in the top seven to secure a spot for Canada in the mixed doubles discipline at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Canada is one of 20 teams entered in the competition.
Gushue and Einarson are trying to become the first Canadian team to win gold in the event’s 13-year history. Canada has reached the podium (two silver, one bronze) at the last three editions of the competition.
The top team in each 10-team pool advances to the semifinals. The second- and third-place teams in each pool will cross over and play qualification games.
Competition continues through Sunday.