International
2019 FISU Winter Universiade Day 6: Both Canadian curling teams ready for playoffs while men’s hockey remains perfect and women’s hockey into the semis
Three of the four Canadian individual team sports were competing at the 29th Winter Universiade on day seven. Team Canada registered two Top 10 finishes with a tenth place in the biathlon single mixed relay along with a tenth in women’s cross country 3 x 5 km race.
Alpine Skiing
During a blustery and sunny day at Funpark Bobrovy Log, the Canadian alpine team competed in the Parallel Nations Team Event. In the Eight Final, best of four runs, Canada lost 4-0 to Sweden. I
In the first run, Adrienne Poitras (Montreal; Montreal, Que.) was +0.98 behind the Swede then Jean-Christopher Allard (Laval; Drummondville, Que.) did not finish the second run. Mikaela O'Brien (Dartmouth; Montreal, Que.) finished +3.05 behind Sweden in the third run while Alexandre Fortin ( Laval; Quebec City, Que.) was +1.33 behind in the fourth run. Canada did not advance to quarter-finals.
Biathlon
In the biathlon single mixed relay at the Biathlon Academy, Canada finished tenth with the team of
Anne Mirejovsky (Alberta; Camrose, Alta.) and Matthew Hudec (Regina; North Battleford, Sask.). The windy conditions were not ideal for either shooting or the cross country part of the event but both Canadians persevered for a Top 10.
Mirejovsky commented afterwards, “The race was fun. It was a bit windy so shooting was a bit sporadic. – prone was ok but standing I was shaking a lot and had to shoot more. The skiing was really short so that helped.
Hudec was hard on himself despite the 20-25 km/h gusty winds and almost -30 Celsius weather with wind chill. “It was pretty tough today. Definitely didn’t control the wind of the range. It was a tricky day. Definitely got the best of both of us today. Mass start is tomorrow and hopefully just try re-group and hit some targets as that will be the main thing is not get to down on myself.”
Cross Country Skiing
The Canadian cross country team, at Raduga Cluster, earned a Top 10 finish in the women’s 3 x 5 km race after a tenth place result. The team of Camille Hamm (Lakehead; Thunder Bay, Ont.), Katherine Denis (Ottawa; New Liskeard, Ont.) and Freya Hik (Alberta; Toronto, Ont.) battle all day to earn this result in some tough weather conditions.
Head coach Katja Mathys commented after the race, “Camille had a great race. She was back and forth with the Slovenian. She passed her on the straight stretches as she was a stronger in double poling but got passed again on the hills. She said she had a great race, was really happy with her performance. She pushed herself to the point of exhaustion. Both Katherine and Freya gave it all they had despite the harsh and hard day.”
In the men’s in the 4 x 7.5 km event, the Canadians placed 13th with the team consisting of David Walker (Victoria; Kelowna, B.C.), Aaron Fahey (Laval; Ottawa, Ont.) and Gavin Shields (Lakehead; Kitchener, Ont.) were looking for a stronger place.
Mathys stated, “It was tough for the classic skiers, really tough. Both of them blew up and that’s that. Our team was scheming to beat the Americans. The American passed Aaron on the second leg. But Aidan was moving fast and well. The front guys had already lapped our team, so Aidan was able to ski with the guy from Kazakhstan who was in second place. He hung on for a while and was able to open up a big gap between him and the American. Gavin was so moving but ended up skiing a lot of the race alone, which is tough. They both were happy with their performance and ultimately beating the Americans.”
TEAM CANADA RESULTS FROM SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2019
ALPINE SKIING
Parallel Nations Team Event
Eight Final (four runs)
Canada lost 4-0 versus Sweden;
(Adrienne Poitras, Montreal; Montreal, Que. was +0.98 behind in first run)
(Jean-Christopher Allard, Laval; Drummondville, Que., did not finish the second run)
(Mikaela O'Brien, Dartmouth; Montreal, Que. was +3.05 behind in the third run)
(Alexandre Fortin, Laval; Quebec City, Que. was +1.33 behind in the fourth run);
Canada did not advance to quarter-finals.
BIATHLON
Single Mixed Relay
Finals
- Canada (Anne Mirejovsky, Alberta; Camrose, Alta., Matthew Hudec, Regina; North Battleford, Sask.) 54:10.3
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Women’s 3 x 5 km
Final
- Canada (Camille Hamm, Lakehead; Thunder Bay, Ont., Katherine Denis, Ottawa; New Liskeard, Ont., Freya Hik, Alberta; Toronto, Ont.) 52:57.9
Men’s 4 x 7.5 km
Final
- Canada (David Walker, Victoria; Kelowna, B.C., Aaron Fahey, Laval; Ottawa, Ont., Gavin Shields, Lakehead; Kitchener, Ont.) 1:29.12.0
WOMEN’S CURLING
Canada (7-2; playoffs: 0-1) lost 6-4 to Great Britain (5-4; playoffs: 1-0) in the #3 vs. #6 playoff game; Canada did not advance to semi-finals.
MEN’S CURLING
Canada (6-3; playoffs: 1-0) wins 9-8 in 11 ends against Switzerland (6-3; playoffs: 1-1) in the semi-final match; advance to the gold medal game against Norway (5-4; playoffs: 2-0) on Saturday, March 9 at 9 p.m. ET (9 a.m. local time).
MEN’S HOCKEY
Canada (4-1) lost 4-3 to Kazakhstan (5-0) in fifth game of Group B; Canada advances to playoff round and will face Russia (5-0) in semi-final game on Monday, March 11 at 4 a.m. ET (4 p.m. local time).
Follow Team Canada on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @USPORTSIntl and use #uCAN