Youth Olympic Games Mixed Team Curling: Day 2 (Evening)
Innsbruck, Austria
January 15, 2012
It was hosts Austria who produced another shock result in the afternoon session with the home team winning their game in some style, stealing seven in an extra end to beat Germany 12-5 in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Elsewhere in the Red Group Session 4, Italy won their first game of the tournament, beating in-form Sweden 7-5. In a close game Sweden drew level in the seventh end with one point before Italy grabbed two in the eighth to win.
Afterwards, Italian Lead, Adrianna Losano, was delighted with her team’s performance. She said: “We are very happy to win this afternoon, we played very well and to win in the last end was really exciting. Sweden are one of the best teams in this competition and have been playing really well so we needed to concentrate. We are so proud to represent Italy, it’s an honour, and we hope to get a little more success over the next few days after this win.”
On attending her first Youth Olympic Games, Adrianna added: “It’s a fantastic experience being here because we’re able to meet other people from all over the world. It’s also a good opportunity for us to play against other teams that we don’t usually play against, so all round it’s a really great experience for us.”
Russia managed to defeat Japan by stealing two points in the final end to take a 6-5 victory as they go into their fourth game of the competition with a record of two wins and one loss alongside Austria, Canada, Japan and Sweden.
Great Britain continued their disappointing form with a 8-2 loss to a Canadian team who seem to be finding form. Their third loss of the competition sees them yet to win a game at the Winter Youth Olympics.
Great Britain Second, Thomas Muirhead, was left disappointed after their latest defeat. He said: “It was a tough game - we just haven’t seemed to find form at all. We struggled in the first few ends and Canada made some good shots which put us under a bit of pressure. From then on we just didn’t pull of the shots we needed to. Canada have good players and when they got a chance they took it.”
He added: “We’re trying to find form but we just need a bit of boost. Tomorrow’s a new day, we just need to win all our games. It is a clean slate and we will take things from there.”
Red Group Standings after Session 4
(Rank/Team/Games/Wins/Losses)
1 AUT – Austria 3 2 1
1 CAN – Canada 3 2 1
1 JPN – Japan 3 2 1
1 RUS - Russian Federation 3 2 1
1 SWE – Sweden 3 2 1
6 GER – Germany 3 1 2
6 ITA – Italy 3 1 2
8 GBR- Great Britain 3 0 3
In the evening Blue Group round, the USA and Switzerland came head to head, both on the back of unbeaten records. It was however the USA who edged this tie 6-4 in a closely fought contest.
USA Vice-Skip, Sarah Anderson, was relieved after beating tough opposition. She said: “It was a really close game. Both teams have been in good form and it showed tonight as we both played really well.”
Sarah added that the composition of Team USA also has its benefits in this unique Mixed Team competition. She said: “Having my [twin] sister here, in our team really helps - we’re really close and help each other out a lot. We know how to get each other up when we’re playing badly and we work together well in a team. It’s also good playing alongside the boys. They throw shots that some girls might not make, because of the weight they can throw at. They can also be stronger sweepers, which makes our game better and our team stronger.”
New Zealand made it back to back victories with a 7-6 win over Estonia, who battled right up until the last end before losing one point in the final end to hand the South Pacific nation their second victory of the day.
Korea also impressed in the evening game, beating Norway 7-3. Picking up a score of three in the last end eliminated Norway’s chance of a win today. The Korean team have found the challenge tough at the competition but are confident more wins will be on their way.
Korean Skip, Sueyeon Kang, explained some of the challenges they have faced. She said: “The quality of ice is a lot different to the quality in Korea so it was hard getting used to. Now we have adjusted to it we are gradually improving our game, and winning lets us enjoy everything around the event a little bit more.”
The Korean team have not been together long, as Kang explains: “We have only played together for five days ahead of the Youth Olympics so that this is our first competitive competition together. We have a very good relationship even though we come different cities and we’re all really good friends together now. This helps us on the ice and we hope that this will help us win the rest of our games.”
Blue Group Standings after Session 3
(Rank/Team/Games/Wins/Losses)
1 USA - United States of America 4 4 0
2 CZE - Czech Republic 4 3 1
2 SUI – Switzerland 4 3 1
4 CHN – China 4 2 2
4 NZL - New Zealand 4 2 2
6 KOR – Korea 4 1 3
6 NOR – Norway 4 1 3
8 EST – Estonia 4 0 4
The Mixed Team competition runs until January 18. The final standings of the Mixed Teams will then determine the teams for the unique Mixed Doubles competition where one male and one female curler, from different nations, join together in the second curling competition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games.
Curling fans will be able to keep up to date with the latest scores from the event via the World Curling Federation micro-site: www.innsbruck2012.curlingevents.com
The World Curling Federation will also be updating regularly from the event via their fan feeds on Twitter www.twitter.com/worldcurling and Facebook www.facebook.com/WorldCurlingFederation
A daily highlights Video clip covering all of the Winter Olympic sports taking place at the Games will be available on the Innsbruck 2012 YouTube site www.youtube.com/innsbruck2012
