A winning start for Team Canada at 2016 Youth Olympics

Team Canada opened the 2016 Youth Olympic Games with a commanding 13-2 win over Estonia on Friday afternoon in Lillehammer, Norway. “It’s a pretty cool experience being out there, and having that first win is pretty uplifting and motivating to keep going forward,” said Tyler Tardi, of Surrey, B.C., who plays third on the Youth Olympics team with skip Mary Fay (Chester, N.S.), second Karlee Burgess (Brookfield, N.S.) and lead Sterling Middleton (Fort St. John, B.C.), with coach Helen Radford.
Tyler Tardi and Sterling Middleton in action at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway (WCF/Richard Gray photo)

Tyler Tardi and Sterling Middleton in action at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway (WCF/Richard Gray photo)

Canada took control of the game from the first end, scoring five with hammer and never allowing their opponents an opportunity to climb back. A score of four in the fifth end was followed by a steal of two, sealing the 13-2 win after six ends. “Definitely our team chemistry is going really well out there,” Tardi said. “We’re having a lot of fun and staying loose. It felt like a regular spiel, so it’s good that we’re not looking at how big the environment is. We’re just focusing on our game.” Action continues on Saturday, when Team Canada will face Great Britain in the afternoon draw (6:30 a.m. EST) and Czech Republic in the evening draw (1:30 p.m. EST). The 16 teams are split into two pools of eight. The top four teams in each pool will qualify for the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semifinals scheduled for next Tuesday, Feb. 16, and the gold- and bronze-medal games on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 3 a.m. EST. Live scoring, pictures, team lineups and the event schedule are available at www.worldcurling.org/yog2016 Daily highlight packages will be available online at https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/video. Other video content from Lillehammer will be available at the Games’ Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/user/lillehammer2016, as well as at the Youth Olympics’ Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/user/YouthOlympics. For more information about the Youth Olympics, click here.