Canada’s Purcell rink advances to playoffs
Owen Purcell and his Canadian rink locked down a playoff spot at the world junior curling championships on Friday in Jonkoping, Sweden.
Purcell and the Halifax Curling Club team of third Joel Krats, second Adam Mceachren and lead Scott Weagle downed Sweden 6-3 to finish with a 6-3 record.
The Canadians tied with Norway at 6-3 but earned the third spot, having beaten the Norwegians in preliminary play. Canada will play Germany (7-2) in the semifinals on Saturday (9 a.m. Atlantic time) while Norway will meet top seed Scotland (8-1).
Purcell said the team is looking forward to the semifinal matchup with Germany. They lost 7-2 to the Germans on the first day, but he sees the team's improvement throughout the event and a four-game winning streak as a difference maker.
“With a change in mindset and different approach to the game of curling, I feel we are much stronger now than we were at the beginning of the week.
“The guys are playing really well and I’m proud of how patient we are playing and how well we are picking our spots in these games.”
Canada was slow out of the gate in the Sweden contest, trailing 2-0 after four ends. A deuce in the fifth and a steal of one in the sixth helped settle the nerves said Purcell. They closed with a pair in the eighth and a steal of in the ninth.
“I made a freeze to choke the end away in the ninth that was key in setting us up for success in the 10th end.”
CANADIAN WOMEN FINISH 3-6
Canada’s Isabelle Ladouceur foursome beat Korea 10-3 in the morning draw, but dropped a 6-5 extra-end decision to Japan in the late session.
Bedford’s Ladouceur and her Northern Ontario rink finished at 3-6 and missed the playoffs.