Canada’s U21 squad starts at the U21 World Championship
Despite not getting off to the start they were hoping for, Canada’s U21 women’s team rallied to score a thrilling victory and split the score on the first day of the 2024 World Junior Curling Championship in Lohja, Finland.
The Canadian team of Myra Plett, Alyssa Nedohin, Chloe Fediuk and Aly Iskiw started the event with a tough matchup against Norway. It was a good fight, except for the 3 points and 2 steals in the 4th and 5th ends. The hole was too deep and I couldn’t get out of it.
Canada lost the game 9-4.
After dropping the first game, Canada’s schedule doesn’t get any easier, and they now have to play Sweden. After taking a three-point lead in the first end, the rest of the game was a back-and-forth battle.
After the first 10 ends, there was still no winner. Sweden tied the game with a single in the 10th inning, forcing extra innings.
However, Canada won with a single and ended the first day with a 1-1 record.
Canada’s junior men’s team, skipped by Johnson Tao, started the championship against Scotland, but quickly found themselves in trouble early on. The Scottish national team, who was without Orin Carson, scored two points with a hammer in the first inning, stole two bases in the second, and stole one base in the third, making the score 5-0 at the end of three games.
“We definitely lost in the first half,” said Canada’s No. 2 Adam Naugler. “We got even better in the second half, but we couldn’t completely turn things around.”
The Canadians scored one run in the fourth inning, the Scots scored one in the fifth and one in the sixth. Trailing 7-1 after six ends, Canada made a comeback effort with a single and two steals in the seventh and eighth innings, making the score 7-4. After a deuce in the 9th inning, the game fell short and Canada won 9-4.
The day is over for Tao, Jadon Neuert, Adam Naugler and Zach Davis, and it’s time to look forward to Sunday’s game between New Zealand and Switzerland.
“It wasn’t a win, but there were a lot of positives as well. We’ll try to take some good things from it and build on it the rest of the week,” Naugler said.
The top four teams in the 10-team event will advance to the playoffs. With nine games left (eight for the women), it’s too early to speculate on the playoff scenario. However, staying in the bottom three is an important mission. Canada did this the hard way, as last year’s results forced both the men’s and women’s teams to qualify for December’s World B Championships.
Live scores can be viewed at https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjcc/default.
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