Youth Olympic Games curlers rebound on Day 2 in Innsbruck

Team Canada came out strong on Day 2 of the 2012 Youth Olympic Games curling competition. Putting a 6-5 loss against home team Austria behind them, skip Thomas Scoffin, vice Corryn Brown, second Derek Oryniak and lead Emily Gray started Day 2 with a convincing 6-0 win over Italy at the Innsbruck Exhibition Centre Curling Hall. Supported by a contingent of enthusiastic Canadian fans, Team Canada played with intensity, according to coach Helen Radford. “The ice had nice curl and we were starting to position our angles well today. All four players were very consistent and got a result out of every shot. “ While the Italian skip opted for big weight shots, Canada kept the pressure on and controlled most of the ends, stealing points in the fifth and sixth, as well as a big 3 points in seven when the Italian skip came up short on his final draw. With a solid win behind them, Team Canada prepared to face Great Britain in the afternoon draw and expected a close game. Instead, the Canadian squad was up 7-0 after a big steal of 4 in the fourth end. Great Britain couldn’t recover, only managing to score 2 in the fifth, and the game ended with an 8-2 victory for Canada. “The game started very even,” reports Radford.  “Team Canada focused on making the simple shots and they executed very well today. The team was very consistent with their weight and kept pressure on the other team in each end.  Once we had a lead, the team defended it well.” A vocal cheering section appeared to help, says Radford.  “The Team Canada family supporters had some new cheers and the team loved having all their support.  We would like to send out a huge thank you to all the supporters back home.  We are getting your messages and keep them coming!” Team Canada now sits at 2-1 tied with Austria, Japan, Russia and Sweden for first place in the Red Pool standings. They face Russia and Sweden on Monday. Interesting notes: Team Canada vice Corryn Brown, of Kamloops, B.C., was featured in an article on the Youth Olympic Games curling page – complete with a photo of her carrying Canada’s flag at the opening ceremonies. Click here to read about Corryn’s thoughts on the Youth Olympic Games and the fun challenge of playing mixed doubles with someone who doesn’t speak English! Team Great Britain’s second is Thomas Muirhead, brother of current Scottish women’s champion Eve Muirhead, who competed at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and at the 2012 WFG Continental Cup of Curling with Team World.