Canada's Gushue overcomes early struggles to sink South Korea at men's curling worlds

A 9-4 score line flattered Canada in its round-robin win over South Korea on Wednesday morning at the world men's curling championship.

With big games against the United States, Scotland and Sweden coming up over the next few days, Canada will need to pick up its play in the second half of the schedule at TD Place.

"This was a little bit of a step back," said Gushue. "The first morning game of the week. Maybe [we were] a little groggy. We did have some execution errors that we couldn't blame on ice or rocks. It was human error.

"If we can straighten that out, we'll be OK."

WATCH | Gushue leads Canada past South Korea at men's curling worlds:

Gushue and lead Geoff Walker had strong percentages but vice Mark Nichols and second E.J. Harnden were both in the mid-70s. Jeong, meanwhile, struggled with a game-low 64 per cent.

"It was a bit of a learning curve today," said national team coach Jeff Stoughton. "It was almost like Day 1 again."

The rocks were textured before the game. Gushue said the venue was noticeably cooler for the morning draw, adding the ice held up well.

"We didn't execute as well as we had in the last couple of games," he said. "We had some zeros out there and some bigger misses. But we hung in there and kept applying some pressure."

Gushue was light with a draw in the fourth end but still picked up a steal when South Korea's double-takeout attempt jammed. Jeong had a chance for two in the fifth but settled for a single when his draw was short.

"There's no sense sugar-coating it," Gushue said. "It was just bad throws. They are what they are."

WATCH | That Curling Show — Gushue prepares to face world's best on home ice:

Jeong missed the angle on a shot in the sixth end, giving Gushue an open draw for