STILL PERFECT AT YOG

CANADA REMAINS UNDEFEATED AT YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

There was no doubt that Canada was the favourite to beat Nigeria in curling. 

The African nation is playing at their first world-level event with some players who have barely spent any time on ice, while Canada famously has more curlers than the rest of the world combined. 

Regardless of the expectations, the game still needed to be played. But unfortunately for the Nigerians, it was as lopsided as anticipated. 

Canada’s Cailey Locke (Conception Bay South, N.L.) and Simon Perry (Portugal Cove, N.L.) opened the game with hammer and promptly scored six; the most you can score in an end of mixed doubles curling. While not quite as rare as the famous eight-ender in four-player curling, the feat is still noteworthy, especially at an international championship. 

The Canadian duo went on to steal one in the second end, two in the the third, and one each in the third, fourth and fifth. They finished the game with a score of two in the sixth end, after which Nigeria conceded the victory at a final score of 14-0. 

With the win, Canada improved to 3-0, with two games remaining vs. Czechia and Great Britain. They lead the pool while their next two opponents are tied for second place at 2-1. The Canadians, supported by coaches Helen Radford and Jeff Hoffart, need one more win to guarantee their spot int he playoffs. 

The top two teams from each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals. Ties will be broken by head-to-head records, and then by the Last Shot Draw scores.  

Currently the United States, China, and Germany all lead their respective pools with undefeated records. 

Some games are streaming on http://www.youtube.com/olympics and https://olympics.com/en/gangwon-2024/. CBC has daily highlights on http://cbcsports.ca 

Scores, standings, and schedules can be found here: https://livescores.worldcurling.org/