ANGLES DON’T LINE UP FOR CANADA 

CZECHIA HANDS CANADA FIRST LOSS IN YOUTH OLYMPIC MIXED DOUBLES 

In Mixed Doubles curling, angles matter. Most ends begin with a series of freezes and taps, creating a pile of granite in the four-foot circle. And usually, because somebody threw a rock a foot heavy, or two inches wide, the angles tend to favour one team much more than the other.  

For Canada’s first three games at the Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, Cailey Locke (Conception Bay South, N.L.) and Simon Perry (Portugal Cove, N.L.) had the angles mastered. On Tuesday, however, the stones just wouldn’t line up. 

“Our game against Czechia wasn’t the result we were hoping for,” said Locke. “We came up on the wrong side with a couple angles and had a hard time getting the ball rolling.” 

Opening the game with the last rock, Canada scored a single in the first, and forced Czechia’s Julie Zelingrova and Ondrej Blaha to a single in the second. The Canadians took two, and gave up two, to make it a tie game after four ends. 

In the fifth and sixth ends, however, the angles started to betray the Canadians. Well placed Czech stones made scoring difficult and resulted in steals in both ends.  

Canada got a single back in the seventh, but Czechia hung on for the 6-4 win.  

A Canadian win would have earned them a playoff spot, but that reward will have to wait until Wednesday vs. Great Britain.  

“We are still in a good position,” said Locke of their 3-1 record. “We still have a good chance to advance, and we’re looking forward to our game tomorrow against Great Britain.” 

Currently, Canada, Great Britain, and Czechia are all tied at the top of the Group A standings with 3-1 records. While Canada plays Great Britain, Czechia will face off against Korea (2-2). A Canadian win would guarantee a quarterfinal berth. A loss would make things more difficult, requiring some help from Korea and an improved shootout score to advance. 

In other pools, the United States, China, Sweden, and Germany have already qualified for the playoff round. Four more spots are up for grabs in the 20-team event. 

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/