Canada detours in Denmark

Canada’s journey to a world junior championship title hit a speed bump on Friday, as both the men’s and women’s teams were defeated in their first games of the day.

The men’s team of skip Calan MacIsaac, third Nathan Gray, second Owain Fisher, and lead Christopher McCurdy, however, recovered to beat Team Scotland 6-4 in an extra end on Friday evening.

“Wicked game tonight,” said Gray. “We played it super patient, with a bunch of blanks and ones. We rallied with a great double in the ninth end to go up two in the 10th. In the last end, we played a great end but left them with a really thin double. They ended up making it, sending us to the extra.”

The Canadians took the hammer to the extra end.

“We played a great 11th, with a short run for the win,” said Gray. “Big emotions all game against a tough team, thrilled to come out with a win. Looking forward to tomorrow’s game, hoping to keep it up towards playoffs.”

The men dropped their first game of the day to Team Italy. They now sit at 5-1 in a three-way tie for first place in the standings with Team Scotland and Team U.S.A.

The men will face Team South Korea Saturday afternoon.

The women, meanwhile, lost their only game of the day 9-5 to Team Sweden. Skip Myla Plett, third Alyssa Nedohin, second Chloe Fediuk, and lead Allie Iskiw will face Team U.S.A. and Team Germany on Saturday. 

The Canadian women currently sit at a 4-2 record, in a logjam for the third and fourth playoff spots.

The round-robin draw will wrap up on Sunday and will be followed by semifinals on Monday and the medal finals on Tuesday. 

The women are supported by coach Dave Nedohin, assistant coach Blair Lenton, fifth Abby Whitbread, and team leader Beth Iskiw.

The men are coached by Craig Burgess and supported by team leader Daryell Nowlan and alternate Nicholas Mosher.

For scores and schedules, visit the World Curling site at: https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjcc/aspnet/livescores?EventID=0

Games can be streamed via paid subscription on the Curling Channel here: https://curlingchannel.tv/subscribe