CurlingZone: Canada winless at World Juniors

Canda's Owen Purcell {Picture: WCF) dropped his first two games on the opening day of the World Junior Curling Championships.

By: Dylan Chenier

Team Canada remains winless at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships. after both the men's and women's rinks suffered losses on the first day of competition in Jonkoping.

First, Canada's Team Purcell lost a narrow 11-10 contest to Team USA (Casper) in the opening draw of the men's tournament on Sunday morning. The US was able to take advantage of the hammer in the first end, making a score of two. Canada responded in the second with three points, after which they would go on to steal two in the third end.

A score of three by Team Casper in the fifth end would tie the game at five heading into the break. The two teams would exchange the lead throughout the second half of the game. In the tenth and final end, the USA were down 10-9 but would have hammer coming home, allowing the team to score two and the win, 11-10.

On paper, Team Canada out curled the USA considerably, with the rink putting up a cumulative total of 72.5%. While Team Purcell's total leaves plenty of room for improvement, it was much higher than Team Casper's average of 60.75%, with no American player curling higher than 65%.

While Sunday morning's game could have gone either way between the two squads, Team Purcell would suffer a more lopsided defeat in the evening draw. Facing Germany's Benjamin Kapp, Canada would keep things close in the first half, trailing 3-1 heading into the break.

The second half, however, was dominated by the German foursome, with Kapp stealing one in six and three in the seventh to lead 7-1 with three ends remaining. After settling for another single in the eighth, Purcell would opt for handshakes, giving the Germans a 7-2 victory.

Down 0-2, Team Purcell dropped to ninth place in the standings, where they are tied with Sweden and New Zealand after one day of competition. The rink will look for its first win of the tournament on Monday afternoon against Team Italy.

Meanwhile, Canada's women's rink had just one game today as they opened the tournament against Scotland in the afternoon draw. This game too was a close one, with Scotland leading 6-5 at the break, before going on to score a deuce in the seventh to eventually take a 9-7 victory.

THINGS won't get any easier for Canada's Isabelle Ladouceur on Monday, as she faces Team Switzerland in the morning before taking on Latvia in the nighttime draw.

The 2022 World Junior Curling Championship continues Monday in Jonkoping, Sweden, with the women's Draw 2 set for 2:00 AM ET.

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