Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman of Team Canada during the mixed doubles round robin match between Great Britain and Canada in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on Saturday.Issei Kato/Reuters
Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman suffered a third straight loss in mixed doubles curling Saturday evening at the Milano Cortina Olympics, putting their playoff hopes on uncertain ground.
Canada rallied from being down 6-0 to make it exciting, but Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill bested them 8-6 at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
Only the top four teams in the 10-team field advance to the playoffs after playing nine round robin games each. Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodd have already secured a spot by starting 7-0. Canada drops to 3-3.
It’s been a tough turn for Gallant and Peterman, who started the Olympic bonspiel 3-0, including a win over the reigning gold medalists from Italy.
It was a night of missed opportunities and mistakes for the husband-wife team who reside in Chestermere, Alta.
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Just as they did earlier on Saturday versus Great Britain, the Canadians slipped into a 3-0 hole after the first end.
Canada struggled early, bouncing off guards, missing key shots, and Estonia stole another two in the second. Pockets of fans with blue Estonian flags went wild, as their team could not have asked for a better start.
Estonia’s faithful roared again when Kaldvee and Lill added a singles in the third and fifth.
Peterman had a prime opportunity to score five in the fourth end but fell just shy, settling for two.
Canada rallied back into the game by scoring three in the sixth.
But the Estonians added another single to make a comeback tougher for Gallant and Peterman. Then Kaldvee came up clutch with a double takeout to put it out of reach.
The Canadians still have to play Sweden, Korea and Switzerland as round robin play continues through Monday.