OUT OF THE GATES IN FINLAND 

CANADA’S U21 REPS GET UNDERWAY AT U21 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 

While it wasn’t the start they were hoping for, Canada’s U21 women’s team rebounded and pulled out a thrilling win to split the results on the first day of action at the 2024 World Junior Curling Championships in Lohja, Finland. 

Canada’s team of Myla Plett, Alyssa Nedohin, Chloe Fediuk, and Allie Iskiw started the event with a tough matchup with Norway. It was a good battle except for the score of three and the steal of two in the fourth and fifth ends, which dug a hole too deep to climb out from. 

Canada lost the game 9-4. 

After dropping their first, Canada’s schedule didn’t get much easier, now having to face Sweden. After scoring three in the first end, it was a back-and-forth battle for the rest of the game.  

Once the initial ten ends were done, there was still no victor. Sweden tied it with a single in the tenth, forcing an extra end. 

Canada, however, was able to score a single to secure the victory to finish Day 1 with a 1-1 record. 

Canada’s junior men, skipped by Johnson Tao, kicked off the championship against Scotland, and quickly found themselves in a hole early on. After Scotland’s Orrin Carson-skipped squad scored two with the hammer in the first, they went on to steal two in the second and one in the third, to take a 5-0 after three. 

“We definitely got outplayed in the first half,” said Adam Naugler, second for Canada. “We stepped it up in the second half, but weren’t able to complete the comeback.” 

The Canadians managed a single in the fourth, before Scotland took one in the fifth, and one in the sixth. Down 7-1 after six ends, Canada mounted a comeback effort with a single and a steal of two, in the seventh and eighth, respectively, making the score 7-4. A deuce from Scotland in the ninth put the game out of reach, and Canada conceded the 9-4 victory. 

For Tao, Jaedon Neuert, Adam Naugler, and Zach Davies, the day was done and it was time to look forward to Sunday’s games vs. New Zealand and Switzerland. 

“While it wasn’t a win, there were a lot of positives. We’ll take some good things from it and look to build on that for the rest of the week,” said Naugler. 

The top four teams in the ten-team event will advance to the playoffs. With nine games remaining (eight for the women), it is far too early to speculate on any playoff scenarios. Staying out of the bottom three spots, however, is a critical mission. Canada found this out the hard way, as last year’s results forced both the men and women’s teams to qualify through the World B championships in December. 

Live scores can be found at https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjcc/default. 

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