MISSION ACCOMPLISHED AT WORLD JR. B 

CANADA QUALIFIES FOR A-GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER QUARTERFINAL WIN

Canada’s U-21 women took a big step toward their goal of a podium finish on Monday, after a hard-fought win over Denmark. The win became even sweeter with other news that unfolded this week. 

After a final round-robin win over Czechia in the morning (which had no bearing on standings or seeding), Canada’s quarterfinal matchup with Denmark was the day’s real focus. Traditionally, a top-three finish at the World Junior-B Championship would earn Canada a berth at the ‘A’ championship at the same venue in Lohja, Finland in February. 

However, due to the breaking news that host-nation Finland will not be sending a team to the ‘A’ championship, it was announced that all four semifinalists will qualify.  

While it was expected that the Canadians would need at least one more win, the team was informed that they had, in fact, already qualified.  

They reacted with an excited post on the team’s Facebook page. “With that stressful extra end finish against a great Team Denmark we secured our spot as one of the top four teams here and a berth in the World A Competition in February!” 

With both Canada and Denmark entering the playoffs undefeated, the Last Stone Draw challenge determined that Denmark would start with the hammer. The Danes scored one to start the game, followed by two for Canada in the second, and a steal of one in the third. 

The teams traded single points for the next four ends. 

“It was a great battle against Denmark,” said Myla Plett, skip of Team Canada. “Both teams played really well.” 

While Canada managed to control most of the game, Denmark took two in the eighth end to tie the game, forcing an extra end. 

The Alberta-based foursome of Plett, Alyssa Nedohin, Chloe Fediuk, and Allie Iskiw dug deep in the ninth end, pulling out a difficult double takeout with Plett’s final shot to secure the victory and a spot in the semifinal. 

“It was a great team shot for the win,” said Plett. “Now, we’re just looking forward to the next game in the semis tomorrow.” 

Plett’s team, supported by coach Blair Lenton, assistant coach Dave Nedohin, and team leader Lori Olson-Johns, has won the Canadian U-18 championship twice, and this year’s U-21 championship.  Now, they have qualified to chase the biggest goal at the ‘A’ group championship. 

Canada will face Turkey (who defeated Italy) in the semifinal on Tuesday morning. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Germany and China in the gold medal game later that day. 

Live scoring can be found here: https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjbcc/aspnet/current?EventID=2 

Some games are found on the live stream available here: https://www.youtube.com/@CurlingFinland/streams