17 February 2024
Three teams on two wins after day one at the World Juniors
The World Juniors kicked off in Lohja, Finland on Saturday 17 February.
The women played two sessions, while the men had one draw on the opening day.
Women’s competition
Japan, Norway and Switzerland had a perfect day in the Kisakallio Sports Institute as they won both of their games. Canada, Germany, Korea and Türkiye had a 1W-1L day, whereas China, Scotland and Sweden are still looking for their first win of the competition after two sessions of play.
In the morning, title defenders Scotland faced a young team from Germany, who qualified for this event from the World Junior-B Championship last December.
Germany took an early 4-0 lead after three ends, and eventually won by 6-4. After the game, a delighted Germany fourth, Kim Sutor said, “We didn’t want to see their title, we celebrated last year with them, we were really happy to play against them and now it’s an awesome ending of the story for us.
Asked about the key to their victory, she added, “Our team, we grew together a lot over the season, we learned a lot about each other, so we knew exactly what to work with on the ice. I think it was just our team performance, the others were awesome as well.”
Scotland were determined to improve on their record in the evening session, when they faced Japan. However, in the re-match of last year’s final, Japan put on an excellent performance and won by 8-5. This was Japan’s second win of the day, after an extra-end victory over Sweden in the morning, 7-6.
Norway, who took bronze in Fuessen last March, opened their campaign with a confident win over Canada in the morning. The Norwegians were leading by 6-1 after five ends, largely due to a score of three in the fourth and a steal of two in the fifth. They eventually won by 9-4.
After the game, Norway third Nora Oestgaard said, “It’s a great win, we played well and had fun out there. We made almost all of our shots and it was a great performance.”
Talking about their goal for the week, she added, “We go for a new medal.”
The Norwegians continued their convincing performance in the evening and won against China by 6-3. This was China’s second loss of the day, after a morning defeat by Korea, 4-6. In that game, Korea were 3-4 behind after nine ends. However, in the tenth, they scored three for the 6-4 win.
Switzerland had an 11-7 opening win over Türkiye, who returned to the world championships after 2018. In the evening, the Swiss had another convincing win, this time, over Germany. After a 5-1 lead at half time, Switzerland won by 8-2 in eight ends.
After their two-win day, Switzerland skip Xenia Schwaller said, “Our first game was already good, my team played very well. I struggled a bit personally, but they played well, so it was fine. And this evening we had a great team performance, we played really good.”
Türkiye bounced back from their morning loss when they played Korea in the evening. The teams were tied at 3-3 after five, and then at 6-6 after eight ends.
Korea had a shot for the win, but their skip Park Hanbyul was heavy with her last draw, and this mistake sent the game into an extra end. In the 11th end, Türkiye had perfect stone-placement, which resulted in a score of two and their first win of the week.
Sweden and Canada were both looking for their first win when they played each other in the evening. The teams were tied at 5-5 after eight ends. Then, they exchanged single-point scores, which put the game to an extra end. In that extra end, Canada had a difficult tap to score a single for the win, which was executed perfectly by their skip, Myla Plett. Canada picked up their first win of the week, 7-6, while Sweden are still looking for theirs.
Men’s competition
In the sole men’s session of the day, title-defenders, China met Denmark. After a low-scoring first half, China were leading by 2-1. Denmark switched gears in the second half, only they put scores on the board, and eventually won by 6-2.
Denmark lead Kasper Jurlander Boege shared his feelings after their win, “It’s awesome! Just being here in the arena and then winning against the Chinese, that’s awesome.
Commenting on that his team earned their world championship spot at the same venue two months ago, he added, “It feels like my own home right now. We already know the ice, it’s an advantage.”
Silver medallists at the last two editions, Germany, took on Norway. After five ends, the Germans were leading by 4-3. In the sixth, Germany needed a precise draw to score a single, but their skip Benjamin Kapp was slightly heavy with his last, and Norway stole two.
After a missed take-out for the win by Norway skip Lukas Hoestmaelingen in the tenth, the game went to an extra end. In that end, Norway scored a single to take the win, 8-7.
Last year’s bronze medallists, Scotland played Canada on Saturday afternoon. Scotland took an early 5-0 lead after three ends, largely due to a steal of two in the second end, when Canada skip, Johnson Tao rolled out on his hit-and-stay attempt.
Canada put one on the board in the fourth, which was followed by a single for Scotland in the fifth, after a difficult angled run by Orrin Carson.
Scotland were leading the game by 6-1 at the break, and even though Canada had some excellent stones in the second half, the Scots won by 9-4.
After the game, Scotland skip Orrin Carson said, “Obviously, it’s only a one-game day for us, so had to get over the line, but that one was really good. It set the tone for the rest of the week, so I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week.”
Elsewhere in the session, Italy faced United States. The teams were tied at 4-4 after four, and at 6-6 after seven. Italy then scored two in the eighth and stole two in the ninth to eventually win by 10-6.
In the fifth game of the session, New Zealand faced Switzerland. The teams were tied at 4-4 at half time, but then Switzerland switched gears and put seven points on the board in four ends. They eventually won by 11-4.
Click here for the women’s and men’s standings after day one.
Opening Ceremony
The official Opening Ceremony of the championships took place before the women’s evening session. Welcome speeches were delivered by Michael Hornborg from the Kisakallio Foundation, Joona Rasanen, member of the Finnish Parliament and Chairman of the Lohja City Council and Rob Niven from the World Curling Board of Directors.
During the ceremony, the Golden Baton of clean sports was passed on. The baton represents fair play and clean sport and is a part of a challenge campaign organised by the Finnish Centre for Integrity in Sports. The baton has been carried from one international event to another in Finland since 2008. To the World Junior Curling Championships, is has been brought from the squash European Team Championships 2023 that were held in Helsinki. The baton was passed on to Scotland skip Robyn Munro from Finnish squash player, Papu Alanko.
The opening stone was delivered by Finnish Curling President, Toni Sepperi, supported by sweepers Lauri Ikavalko and Katja Kiiskinen. Lohja’s mascot, Ronni was holding the broom.
Click here for all the results and the playing schedule.
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