China, Japan and United States women share Pan Continental lead

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World Curling Media

22 October 2025

After two sessions of round-robin play, China, Japan and United States women have won two games each.

China followed up their tight 6-5 win over Korea with a more straightforward 11-2 victory over Mexico, completed with a score of four in the sixth end.

Japan opened their campaign with an 11-5 win over world champions Canada, thanks largely to a score of five in the third end when skip Fujisawa had a open takeout for a possible six, but rolled away. They then followed that up with an 8-6 victory over Australia.

Speaking about her win over Canada, Japan skip Fujisawa Satsuki said, “we had a couple of chances to make big points and we took them. I’m really happy about that.”

Following their opening 11-3 win over Mexico, the United States team returned to the ice to beat Korea by 8-5.

After the game against Mexico, American skip Tabitha Peterson said, “it’s really fun to be playing in a home championship. It’s always good to start with a win and we’re reading the ice out there and getting focused on what we need to do.”

USA Cory Thiesse © World Curling / Caroline Sherman

Behind the three joint leaders, Australia and Canada share a one win / one loss record. Australia beat New Zealand 11-5 in their first game before going down to Japan. After that game, their skip Helen Williams said, “our team played well there. We’re building and done a lot of training over the past five weeks and our plan is just to improve every time we’re on the ice.”

Meanwhile, Canada bounced back from their opening defeat to Japan with a 10-2 win over New Zealand in just six ends.

At the foot of the table, Korea, Mexico and New Zealand remain without a win so far.

Philippines © World Curling / Logan Hannigan-Downs

Men’s competition

After the first two sessions of men’s round robin, hosts United States and Canada share the top spot with two wins and no losses.

United States faced Japan in Monday evening’s first session. By the seventh end, the Americans led 3-1, and skip John Shuster scored three points with a draw shot, extending the lead to 6-1. United States went on to win 8-3.

In their second game, the Americans played Korea. After stealing points in four successive ends, the US led 6-1. By the ninth end, they were ahead 6-3, and a final point by Shuster on a hit-and-roll brought the score to 7-3, prompting Korea to concede.

Chris Plys, United States © World Curling / Caroline Sherman

Shuster said afterward, “Two games, two wins. The team has been playing well – I didn’t have my best game, but we made some timely shots, and everybody is doing the right things out there.”

Canada opened against defending champions China. By the ninth end, Canada led 7-4. Skip Brad Jacobs drew his final stone to score three points, taking the team to 10-4 and prompting China to concede. In their second game, Canada faced the Philippines. By the ninth end, Canada led 6-3, and a nose-hit by Jacobs scored four more points, sealing a 10-3 victory.

Jacobs said, “We controlled the scoreboard and played one shot at a time.”

Four teams are tied with one win and one loss. China bounced back from their defeat to Canada with an 8-2 win over New Zealand. Japan defeated Australia 9-3 after trailing 4-3, with Yanagisawa Riku scoring two points in the fifth end to take control. Korea beat New Zealand 11-4 in their opener before losing to United States, and the Philippines opened with a 9-3 win over Australia before falling to Canada.

Australia and New Zealand are still searching for their first wins.

How to watch the US Steel Pan Continental Curling Championships.

All A-Division games will be broadcast on the Curling Channel, however, there may be restrictions due to broadcast partner agreements.

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