Italy men first to qualify for semi-finals

In day six of the World Junior Curling Championships 2025, Italy men became the first to qualify for the semi-finals. In the women’s competition, Germany, Korea, Switzerland and Sweden all currently rank first on the standings, with five wins and two losses.

Men’s competition

In Italy’s evening game, they faced Canada. A strong performance saw Italy with a comfortable 6-3 lead by the ninth end and in the tenth, despite having hammer, Canada couldn’t remove their opponents’ stones from the button, allowing Italy to steal three and confirm their 9-3 win and qualification status.

Following the win, Italy skip Stefano Gilli said, “We feel really good, now we are unbeaten 7-0 and we are qualified.

“We’re so happy and want to continue to close out the round robin unbeaten.”

Their morning session saw them also grab a convincing win against Norway. The win came when Norway’s skip Lukas Hoestmaelingen attempted a hit-and-roll with his final stone of the tenth end, but it went off course, and Italy stole two to win 11-7.

Norway versus Italy © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Norway redeemed themselves in the evening session against Switzerland with a win of 6-4. In Switzerland’s only game of the day, Norway had control, and a 6-3 lead by the ninth end. The Swiss went to score one more in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to catch up.

Scotland were successful in their morning game against Japan. By the fifth end, Japan only trailed by one point (5-4) but after a blanked fifth end, Scotland grew the lead, eventually winning 9-4 in eight ends.

After the game Scotland’s third player Logan Carson said, “We are really happy with our performance today, even though we were disappointed yesterday. It was very important to bounce back after the loss to Italy. We hope that we can build on this and secure a spot in the playoffs.”

Team Scotland © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Japan’s evening draw was against Korea, who left the ice with a 10-3 victory in seven ends. Korea led 8-3 by the seventh end and sealed the win when skip Kim Daehyun played a draw to secure the winning two points.

In the morning session, United States took on Germany in their only game of the day. The score was tied 7-7 going into the tenth end, but an attempt to hit-and-roll by German skip Lukas Jaeger to remove his opponents’ stones was unsuccessful, and United States finished the game 9-7 winners.

Reflecting on their win, third player Daniel Laufer said, “The other team played really well, and we had to stay ahead by the smallest margin. It really came down to the last end, and we just executed a little better, which allowed us to finish it off.”

Germany’s afternoon game saw them suffer another loss, this time 10-4 against Denmark in just seven ends.

Women’s competition

After six ends, Italy were 3-2 leaders against Germany. This was until Germany’s fourth player Kim Sutor played a takeout to score four. The Italians fought back and levelled the game, 6-6 playing the final end. Germany scored one in the tenth and secured the 7-6 win.

Team Germany celebrate their win © World Curling / Céline Stucki

Going into the seventh end, Sweden were ahead by 5-3 against Switzerland. However, Switzerland scored a single, followed by two steals of one meaning they were just one point ahead going into the tenth end. With her final stone, Sweden skip Moa Dryburgh played a double take-out to score four, confirming her team’s 9-6 win.

Sweden’s Moa Dryburgh © World Curling / Céline Stucki

After the win, Dryburgh said, “We are so happy to have made the last shot to win. We stuck to our process and never gave up, which makes me personally very proud.”

Korea secured their fifth win of the championship against Canada, 7-4. The score was level (4-4) until the tenth end, when Canada’s attempt to lay their final stone was unsuccessful and they shook hands, letting Korea score three to win.

Korea versus Canada © World Curling / Céline Stucki

Latvia faced Norway in their afternoon draw, in which Latvia walked away with a 7-6 win. The game went to an extra end tied at 6-6, when Norway’s takeout attempt was unsuccessful, and Latvia stole the winning point.

Following their win, Latvia skip Evelina Barone said, “In the last few days, we’ve had multiple close games like the one today. We are so happy that we were able to win this one; it feels so good to finally get that win.”

Find the women’s and men’s standings after day five here.

Find the results and playing schedule here.

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