A win is a win.
Even when you let a six-point lead slip away, and you end up stealing the two points to secure the victory, and even after you’ve clinched a spot in the final four.
Such was the case for Spallumcheen, B.C.’s Ina Forrest and Team Canada at the wheelchair curling competition Wednesday, March 11, at the 2026 Milano Cortina Paralympics in Italy.
Canada improved to 7-0 in its only game of the day, downing Slovakia 9-6.
It was a game that started looking like handshakes would come early, as the Canadians jumped out to a 6-0 lead by scoring two in the first end with hammer, then stealing four in the second end.
But there was no quit among the Slovaks.
Skip Adrian Durcek scored a pair with the final stone in the third end, and added a steal of one before the fourth-end intermission to cut Canada’s lead in half.
The Slovaks tied the contest by stealing three points over the first two ends after the break. Canada, with Mark Ideson at third, maintained its composure to claim the win with two strong final ends.
Ideson and company regained the lead in the seventh end by scoring just one point for a 7-6 advantage, and was able to secure the win with a steal of two in the final end.
“You still have to figure out how to win in every game you’re playing,” said Forrest on playing round-robin games after already securing their semifinal spot. “At this point, we don’t want to have a loss at any point, so we’re still playing to win.”
The loss dropped Slovakia into a tie for seventh place at 3-5 with one preliminary round game left.
Canada remains atop the standings at 7-0, one game ahead of the defending gold medalists, China, who sit at 6-1.
Sweden, the reigning silver medalists, are alone in third at 5-3 but only have one game left. Korea is fourth at 4-3 with two games remaining.
Canada will close out the preliminary round Thursday, March 12, starting at 5:35 a.m. Pacific against Korea, and will close out the round-robin against the U.S. (3-4) at 10:35 a.m. Pacific. Team Canada and China have locked up spots in the semifinals, which are slated for Friday.
The gold-medal game goes Saturday, March 14, at 7:05 a.m. Pacific.
—with files from the Canadian Paralympics Committee