International
2019 FISU Winter Universiade Day 3: Corey Farber leads way with 11th place in Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom
With hockey on a day off break, the whole spotlight was on both Canadian curling teams playing at the Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace at the 29th Winter Universiade. On the third of curling at the boisterous Sports Palace, Canada split both women’s curling games against Switzerland and Great Britain while the men’s team lost a tough battle versus host Russia.
Women’s Curling
The women’s curling team (3-2) of skip Kristen Streifel (Alberta; Clavet, Sask.), third Danielle Schmiemann (Alberta; Stony Plain, Alta.), second Selena Sturmay (Alberta; Leduc, Alta.), first Jessica Iles (Alberta; The Pas, Man.) and fifth Paige Papley (Alberta; Beaumont, Alta.) had two draws and started off fast in the morning as they seized the early momentum with a four-ender in the first end. After the Swiss scored single points in the second and third end, the Canadians scored another four in the fourth end for a seemingly commanding 8-2 lead. Switzerland (1-3) chipped away as they scored a single point in four successive ends before Canada produced the final points with a deuce in the ninth and hand shakes for a third time before the tenth end at this Universiade.
In the second match in the evening, Team Canada had a tough battle against Great Britain (4-1) in a match-up of two of the top teams so far. At the start, the teams traded two points each in the first three ends. GB had two hits for two while Canada set-up a two of their own in the second. In the fourth, the end was looking good until Great Britain snuck a couple behind cover and Canada could not remove and it was a steal of four for the Union Jack. Canada mounted a comeback as they stole and score with the hammer to reduce a five point deficit to two before the score of 12-7.
“We started really strong this morning and had a great game against the Swiss, “ stated Streifel after the evening draw. “We are still trying to figure out the ice and rocks - it’s a little bit tricky out there. We came out a little flat tonight and definitely a nervous game. That’s one we throw out the window and look ahead to tomorrow.”
Canada will face the Czech Republic (2-3) on Wednesday, March 6 at 2 a.m. ET (2 p.m. local time) in sixth match of round robin.
Men’s Curling
The men’s curling team (2-2) heard from the loud Russian crowd as they had to play the host in an afternoon draw. In a back-and-forth affair, Canada was defeated by Russia (3-1) in the tenth end when they could only scored a single point for a narrow 6-5 loss in front of a cheering Sports Palace. The maple leaf team of skip Karsten Sturmay (Alberta; Leduc, Alta.), third Tristan Steinke (Alberta; Dawson Creek, B.C.), second Christopher Kennedy (Alberta; Red Deer, Alta.) and lead Glenn Venance (Alberta; Kitscoty, Alta.) took an early 2-1 lead after four. The intense game continued as there were four lead changes with the turning point in the ninth when Russia scored three. Canada could not overcome with just a single counting in the crucial tenth.
Steinke commented about the loss and the crowd, “It was quite the experience of having a whole arena of thousands of people cheering really hard against you. We haven’t experienced that before and it was kind of fun. It was tight and pretty well played game. We had a tough break on a pick in the ninth but that happens. In the end, we still had a good look in the tenth end to at least have a shot to tie or maybe even shot to win but it’s just the way it fell.”
The men’s team goes back to two games tomorrow as they play Switzerland (3-1) on Tuesday, March 5 at 9 p.m. ET (9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, March 6) and play Sweden (2-2) on Wednesday, March 6 at 7 a.m. ET (7 p.m. local time) in fifth and sixth matches of round robin.
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