December 16, 2013
Winter Universiade: Canadian women even record, men suffer first loss
TRENTINO, Italy – With two wins on Monday, Canada’s Laura Crocker is getting closer to notching a spot in the tie-breakers at the Winter Universiade curling tournament.
Crocker and her Wilfrid Laurier University team of third Sarah Wilkes, second Jennifer Gates, lead Cheryl Kreviazuk, alternate Breanne Meakin and coach Garry Coderre, stole two points in the ninth end and ran their opponents out of rocks for a 5-3 win over the USA’s Cory Christensen at the Baselga di Pine Ice Stadium.
In the evening game against Japan’s Yoshimura Sayaka, the Canadians led 5-1 after five ends and controlled the game, stealing one in the ninth for a 7-2 victory.
Crocker now sits at 4-4 in the standings and will play the final game of the round robin on Tuesday afternoon against South Korea (5-3). A win for Canada and a loss by Sweden (5-3) would put Crocker into tie-breakers on Wednesday.
Russia’s Anna Sidorova (8-0) has already qualified for playoffs, with Great Britain and Switzerland right behind with identical records of 6-2. South Korea, Sweden and Canada will be fighting for the final playoff position, while Japan, the USA, China and Italy are out of contention.
On the men’s side, it was a tough day for the University of Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and his team of Michael Lizmore (third), Brad Thiessen (second), Karrick Martin (lead) and Parker Konschuh (alternate), with coach Rob Krepps, who had their undefeated streak snapped by the USA’s Chris Plys, losing 10-3 in their one game of the day.
Plys scored his deuce in the first end, then stole two more points in the second. The Canadians came back with a deuce, but they gave up a huge six points in the fifth end, leaving Bottcher trailing 10-2. After scoring a single in the sixth, Team Canada conceded, taking the 10-3 loss and seeing their winning streak end at six.
With a 6-1 record, Canada drops into second place in the standings behind Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson, who has already qualified for the playoffs. The Team Canada men will play their last two round robin games on Tuesday, meeting Switzerland’s Mario Freiberger (3-4) and finishing off with Sweden (7-0) in a meeting of the two teams that sat at the top of the standings throughout the competition.
Source: Canadian Curling Association
Crocker and her Wilfrid Laurier University team of third Sarah Wilkes, second Jennifer Gates, lead Cheryl Kreviazuk, alternate Breanne Meakin and coach Garry Coderre, stole two points in the ninth end and ran their opponents out of rocks for a 5-3 win over the USA’s Cory Christensen at the Baselga di Pine Ice Stadium.
In the evening game against Japan’s Yoshimura Sayaka, the Canadians led 5-1 after five ends and controlled the game, stealing one in the ninth for a 7-2 victory.
Crocker now sits at 4-4 in the standings and will play the final game of the round robin on Tuesday afternoon against South Korea (5-3). A win for Canada and a loss by Sweden (5-3) would put Crocker into tie-breakers on Wednesday.
Russia’s Anna Sidorova (8-0) has already qualified for playoffs, with Great Britain and Switzerland right behind with identical records of 6-2. South Korea, Sweden and Canada will be fighting for the final playoff position, while Japan, the USA, China and Italy are out of contention.
On the men’s side, it was a tough day for the University of Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and his team of Michael Lizmore (third), Brad Thiessen (second), Karrick Martin (lead) and Parker Konschuh (alternate), with coach Rob Krepps, who had their undefeated streak snapped by the USA’s Chris Plys, losing 10-3 in their one game of the day.
Plys scored his deuce in the first end, then stole two more points in the second. The Canadians came back with a deuce, but they gave up a huge six points in the fifth end, leaving Bottcher trailing 10-2. After scoring a single in the sixth, Team Canada conceded, taking the 10-3 loss and seeing their winning streak end at six.
With a 6-1 record, Canada drops into second place in the standings behind Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson, who has already qualified for the playoffs. The Team Canada men will play their last two round robin games on Tuesday, meeting Switzerland’s Mario Freiberger (3-4) and finishing off with Sweden (7-0) in a meeting of the two teams that sat at the top of the standings throughout the competition.
Source: Canadian Curling Association
