LEADING THE PACK

CANADA SITTING AT THE TOP OF THE LEADERBOARD AT WORLD JUNIOR-B CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Canada continued their winning ways at the World Junior-B championship in Finalnd. With a 7-3 win over Italy, the Alberta-based foursome stayed atop the Pool A standings. 

It was the third straight win to open the competition for skip Myla Plett, third Alyssa Nedohin, second Chloe Fediuk, and lead Allie Iskiw, who are playing out of the Airdrie and Sherwood Park Curling Clubs. With a two-win day, the team from Czechia skipped by Sophie Krupickova also sits at 3-0, sharing the lead in the pool. 

“We’re feeling really good with our performance so far,” said Nedohin. “We’re just sticking to our routines and taking one game at a time.  

Canada’s next two challenges will be the Netherlands and Belgium, before closing their round robin against the Czechs on Monday. The top eight teams in the 25-team event will move on to a playoff round with quarterfinals starting Monday evening. 

“We’re comfortable with the ice conditions,” said Nedohin, “We’re definitely throwing with confidence.” 

Italy, skipped by Rebecca Mariani, was also undefeated to start the game. With the top spot in the pool on the line, Canada won the Last Stone Draw and immediately scored two with their first-end hammer.  After a blank in the second, and a force of one in the third, Canada took three in the fourth to go up 5-1 and the halfway point.  

The Canadians, supported by coach Blair Lenton, assistant coach Dave Nedohin, and team leader Lori Olson-Johns, gave up two singles in the fifth and sixth end, but then put the game out of reach with a score of two in the seventh.  

This is the second consecutive year the Canadian U-21 champs have had to play their way back into the ‘A’ Group world champion. Last year’s reps skipped by Emily Deschenes (filling in for Taylour Stevens’s Nova Scotia team) claimed gold at the B championships, but only won two games at the ‘championships a few months later. 

“This is a rare opportunity to go to and potentially win two world championships in the same year,” said Olson-Johns. “These young ladies are well prepared, well coached, and going to embrace the challenge.” 

In the other pools, Hungary, Germany, and Turkey lead the way; each with an undefeated record thus far. 

This year’s ‘A’ group championship will be held in February at the same venue in Lohja, Finland. 

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