Canadian curling teams kick off competition on Friday at FISU Winter World University Games

The FISU World University Games are in North America for the first time in 30 years and two Canadian curling teams hope the event will have a hometown feel when the event gets underway this Friday in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Team Abby Marks of the University of Alberta (Edmonton) and Team Owen Purcell of Dalhousie University (Halifax) will wear the Maple Leaf at Saranac Lake Civic Centre and aim to secure gold for Canada for the first time in six years.

The most recent gold medal won by a Canadian team was earned by Team Kelsey Rocque at the 2017 Games in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Canada is sending two seasoned teams to the event with previous experience representing the country in international competitions. Both teams won the right to compete at the 2023 FISU World University Games by winning the FISU World University Games Qualifier hosted at Ottawa in September 2022.

On the women’s side, skip Marks is supported by vice-skip Catherine Clifford, second Brianna Cullen, lead Paige Papley, alternate Serena Gray-Withers and coach Amanda St. Laurent.

Marks and Papley played third and lead, respectively, on the 2019 Canadian junior team that won silver at the World Junior Curling Championships in Liverpool, N.S. 

It is also Papley’s second appearance at the FISU World University Games. In 2019 she served as Canada’s alternate on a team led by skip Kristen Streifel.

Clifford, Cullen and Marks were selected to represent Canada at the 2021 World Junior Curling Championships, but the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

On the men’s side, skip Purcell leads vice-skip Jeffrey Meagher, second Adam McEachren, lead David McCurdy, alternate Caelan McPherson and coach Anthony Purcell into action later this week.

Purcell and McEachren are coming off a memorable 2021-22 season after winning the national junior title and earning bronze for Canada at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships in Jonkoping, Sweden.

Purcell and Meagher also have national curling experience together. The duo played third and second, respectively, and won gold for Nova Scotia at the 2018 Canadian Under-18 Curling Championships in Saint Andrews, N.B.

Helen Radford serves as team leader for the Canadian curling contingent in Lake Placid.

Both teams begin the competition on Friday, with the women playing at 2 p.m. (all times ET) and the men at 7 p.m.

Canadian women’s schedule:

Friday, Jan. 13
2 p.m. – Canada vs. South Korea

Saturday, Jan. 14
9 a.m. – Canada vs. United States
7 p.m. – Canada vs. Japan

Sunday, Jan. 15
2 p.m. – Canada vs. Spain

Monday, Jan. 16
9 a.m. – Canada vs. China
7 p.m. – Canada vs. Sweden

Tuesday, Jan. 17
2 p.m. – Canada vs. Australia

Wednesday, Jan. 18
9 a.m. – Canada vs. Great Britain
7 p.m. – Canada vs. Switzerland

Thursday, Jan. 19
2 p.m. – Semifinal*

Friday, Jan. 20
2 p.m. – Bronze-medal game*

Saturday, Jan. 21
7 p.m. – Gold-medal game*

*Pending qualification

Canadian men’s schedule:

Friday, Jan. 13
7 p.m. – Canada vs. Switzerland

Saturday, Jan. 14
2 p.m. – Canada vs. Czech Republic

Sunday, Jan. 15
9 a.m. – Canada vs. Brazil
7 p.m. – Canada vs. Japan

Monday, Jan. 16
2 p.m. – Canada vs. Sweden

Tuesday, Jan. 17
9 a.m. – Canada vs. South Korea
7 p.m. – Canada vs. Norway

Wednesday, Jan. 18
2 p.m. – Canada vs. United States

Thursday, Jan. 19
9 a.m. – Canada vs. Great Britain
7 p.m. – Semifinal*

Friday, Jan. 20
7 p.m. – Bronze-medal game*

Saturday, Jan. 21
2 p.m. – Gold-medal game*

*Pending qualification

Canada’s men’s and women’s teams have won eight medals at the Winter University Games since it became a medal sport in 2003, including three gold-medal performances: from Team Mike McEwen in 2003 at Tarvisio, Italy; Team Brittany Gregor in 2007 at Pinerolo, Italy; and Rocque in 2017.

Ten teams of each gender will compete in nine-game round-robin competitions. The top four teams advance to the four-team playoffs, with the semifinals occurring on Jan. 19. The winners go to the gold-medal games on Jan. 21 and the losers compete in the bronze-medal match on Jan. 20.

Live scoring will be available on the official event website, and stay tuned to curling.ca for daily recaps and stories.