18 February 2024
Denmark men’s flying start: from Junior-B to leading the standings
Sunday’s second day of curling action in the Kisakallio Sports Institute saw two men’s sessions and one women’s draw at the World Junior Championships 2024.
At the end of the second day, undefeated Denmark are clear leaders of the men’s standings on three wins. Japan, Norway and Switzerland share the top of the table in the women’s competition, similarly unbeaten on three wins.
Men’s competition
Denmark — who qualified for the event by finishing third in the World Junior-B Championships last December — played Germany in the morning.
The Danish won their opening game by beating title-defenders, China, while the Germans had lost their opening match to Norway. Their encounter was a high-scoring one, where multiple-point scores were exchanged in eight consecutive ends.
Eventually, the game went to an extra end, where Germany had hammer. However, their skip Benjamin Kapp wrecked on a guard with his last draw attempt, and gave Denmark the stolen win, 10-9.
Denmark continued their solid performance in the evening and defeated New Zealand by 8-4 in nine ends. That was New Zealand’s second loss of the day after their morning defeat by Canada.
After Saturday’s loss to Scotland, Canada wanted to improve on their record in that game against the Kiwis. The teams exchanged singles in the first four ends, and then, Canada switched gears. They had three back-to-back steals of two for an 8-2 score after eight ends. They eventually won by 9-3 in nine ends.
After the game, Canada skip Jackson Tao said, “It was really nice to be able to bounce back with a win today after a tough loss yesterday. Such a long week and we’re just trying to build with every game, so we did that today and we’re happy with our result.”
Italy — who picked up a win on Saturday over United States — faced Scotland in the morning. The teams were tied at 1-1 after three ends, and then three-point scores were exchanged in the following three ends, two for Italy. This resulted in a 7-4 lead for the Italians after six. A score of two in the eighth and a single steal in the ninth was enough for Italy to pick up the win, 10-6.
After the game, Italy fourth Francesco De Zanna said, “It was a really good game, we played really well. Good feeling and great performance. I made quite some big shots, but also some big misses, so we have to improve for the next game.”
Norway were looking to pick up their second win of the week in the morning, after a victory over Germany on Saturday. They were facing United States, who had lost their opening game.
The Americans were leading the game by 5-2 at half time, but Norway had a great second half and tied the game at 7-7, going into the tenth end. In that end, Norway skip Lukas Hoestmaelingen wasn’t perfect with his double take-out attempt, and United States didn’t need to throw their last. The Americans won by 8-7.
United States kept their great form in their evening game against Scotland. The Americans scored four in the second and never let go of the lead afterwards. They eventually won by 10-6 and improved their record to two wins and one loss.
In the evening, Norway had another chance to pick up their second win of the event, when they played Italy. The teams were tied at 4-4, going into the tenth end. Norway’s Lukas Hoestmaelingen was facing two Italian counters when he set to play his last, a take-out. Supported by great sweeping, he executed his hit-and-stick perfectly, and scored a single for the win, 5-4. Now both teams are on the same won two, lost one record.
After an opening win over New Zealand on Saturday, Switzerland played title-defenders China in the morning.
China were leading the game by 5-4, going into the tenth end. In that end, Switzerland needed to tap out the Chinese shot stone sitting on the back of the four-foot, behind a guard, to win the game. Swiss skip Manuel Jermann made the shot — aided by some great sweeping —, Switzerland scored three and won the game by 7-5.
Afterwards, Manuel Jermann said, “At the start, we struggled a little bit, and our draw wasn’t good enough, but we fought until the end and made a lot of pressure in the last end against a very well-playing team.”
Switzerland couldn’t keep the morning momentum in the evening, when they played Canada. The teams were tied at 3-3 after six, but then Canada produced five points in the next two ends. The Canadians eventually won by 8-4 and improved their record to two wins and one loss, the same as the Swiss’.
Germany and China, last year’s finalists, played each other in the evening, both looking for their first win in Lohja. The Germans were leading the game throughout and eventually ran China out of stones in the tenth end.
After their 7-4 win, Germany skip Benjamin Kapp said, “It’s been late, but better late than never. It’s been a relief. We didn’t do much different to the previous games as we played really well before as well, so we just told ourselves to just keep playing well and hopefully get a win this time.
Talking about their mental preparations, he added, “We told ourselves that there is still everything possible and not to be as much concerned about the win-loss record, just to take game by game, shot by shot and I think especially in this game, it worked out really well.”
Women’s competition
In the sole women’s session of the day, so-far unbeaten Japan met Germany, who picked up one win and one loss on Saturday. Japan scored multiple-point ends and kept Germany to take their singles to lead the game by 5-2 after four ends.
Japan were leading the game by 8-5 after eight. In the ninth, Germany’s Kim Sutor executed a very difficult angled promotion take-out to score two to narrow the gap to a single point.
In the tenth, Japan scored a single to take a 9-7 win and keep their record perfect on three victories.
On a neighbour sheet, similarly undefeated Switzerland met Korea, who had a 1W-1L day on Saturday. After a blanked first end by Korea, the Swiss played a textbook game in the first half. They forced Korea to take a single with hammer, while they put twos on the board when they had last stone.
In the sixth, Korea skip Park Hanbyul was slightly heavy with her last draw attempt, which resulted in a steal of three for Switzerland and a 7-2 lead.
The Swiss kept their foot on the gas, forced Korea to a single in the seventh and put a big three on the board in the eighth. At this point, Korea conceded defeat with a 10-3 final result, Switzerland winning and keeping their unbeaten record intact.
In the Nordic battle, table-toppers Norway played Sweden, who were looking for their first win of the week. However, the Norwegians kept their strong form from Saturday and were leading the game by 6-2 at half time.
Sweden produced their first multiple-score end in the seventh after a perfect double take-out by their skip, Moa Dryburgh. At this point, Norway were still leading the game by 8-4.
Norway then scored a single in the eighth for 9-4, which was the last moment of the game as Sweden conceded defeat.
Title-defenders Scotland were looking to pick up their first win against Türkiye, who had a half-half first day. Scotland started the game strong and put three points on the board in both the second and fourth end.
In the fifth, they stole one when Türkiye fourth Sengul Berfin rolled too far with her shooter on her hit attempt. The Scots were therefore leading the game by 7-4 at half time. Scotland kept their strong performance in the second half and won by 10-5 in nine ends.
After the game, Scotland third Laura Watt said, “We feel great to get that first win on the board! We struggled a bit yesterday, so it feels good to get that W.
“We just got together as a team, we had a good chat. We were playing good out there, we just needed to make a few more shots and that’s what we did today. We came out firing and it’s a great crowd out here, so it’s fun to play.”
Similarly, China attempted to score their first win against Canada. The Canadians had lost their opening game against Norway and won their second match against Sweden.
China were controlling the first half of the game and were leading by 3-1 at half time. The momentum shifted in the sixth, when Canada put a big score of four on the board to take the lead for the first time, at 5-3.
Canada were leading by 7-5 playing the tenth. Their skip Myla Plett was facing three Chinese stones when she was playing her last. She took out two Chinese counters, which was enough for Canada to take a 7-6 win.
After the game, Myla Plett was talking about the first half of their game, saying, “We struggled with a few shots, I personally think that my team was playing quite well, I was just missing those key shots in the last moments. But team China was playing amazing, the front half there, they were just really pushing us, so we definitely had to bring it, and we talked about it and said ‘let’s bring our game now.’
Talking about her overall experience so far, she added, “I’m so excited! The girls are playing amazing, they’re always supportive, super upbeat and happy, so it’s really great to have them on the team and making those shots and being encouraging.”
Click here for the women’s and men’s standings after day two.
Click here for all the results and the playing schedule.
For information about streaming, click here.
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