Dunstone rebounds on Day 4 of World Juniors

Team Canada’s Matt Dunstone and his Winnipeg squad of third Colton Lott, second (and vice-skip) Kyle Doering, lead Rob Gordon, alternate Wade Ford, coach Calvin Edie and team leader Brian Chick have had a couple of tough days. Two successive losses dropped them in the standings and made the long round robin seem even longer. But Dunstone and crew rebounded on Wednesday with two big wins: a six-end 10-2 win over South Korea’s Yu Jin Seong and a 9-1 win later in the day over Denmark’s Tobias Thune, getting them back on track to catch the leaders – Scotland, Switzerland and USA – in time for the playoffs.
Team Canada skip Matt Dunstone delivers his rock during Day 4 action at the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships in Taarnby, Denmark (WCF/Richard Gray)

Team Canada skip Matt Dunstone delivers his rock during Day 4 action at the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships in Taarnby, Denmark (WCF/Richard Gray)

“It’s obviously good to get back on to it and hopefully we’ll get back onto a winning streak now,” said Dunstone about returning to the win column. “We’ve been struggling a bit, but today we were making the easy shots. The field is really deep this year, a strong field, especially in the top half. If we want to be there we need to play like we did today and get some consistency.” Getting the second win was especially important to a team that has struggled over the past two days. “Absolutely, that (win) keeps us in contention here,” said Dunstone. “It’s a big bounce-back day for us after two straight losses, so to come back with two wins, it’s obviously a big day for us. We just need to stick to our routine, just stick to what we’ve been doing. We talked about that after our two losses. We can’t control the win/losses but we can control our own rocks.”
Team Canada third Colton Lott delivers his rock with sweepers Robbie Gordon and Kyle Doering watching closely (WCF/Marissa Tiel photo)

Team Canada third Colton Lott delivers his rock with sweepers Robbie Gordon and Kyle Doering watching closely (WCF/Marissa Tiel photo)

On the women’s side, Team Canada faced a serious challenge from USA’s Cory Christensen on Wednesday afternoon but battled to a 5-3 win to keep their undefeated streak alive. Mary Fay and her Chester, N.S., team of third Kristin Clarke, second Karlee Burgess, lead Janique LeBlanc, alternate Sarah Daniels, coach Andrew Atherton and team leader Andrea Ronnebeck stole two ends in a nailbiter against Christensen, who sits in third place with a 4-2 record. “That was an intense game for sure and they made a lot of great shots,” said Fay. “It’s good to have those games and have that kind of intense experience. It’s great to be at the top and to pull off a win like that, it’s great for your confidence – it makes you feel that you can be there at the end of the week.”
Team Canada skip Mary Fay calls off her sweepers during action at the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships in Taarnby, Denmark (WCF/Richard Gray photo)

Team Canada skip Mary Fay calls off her sweepers during action at the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships in Taarnby, Denmark (WCF/Richard Gray photo)

The Team Canada women remain at the top of the standings with a 5-0 record and will face the only other undefeated team, Korea’s Min Ji Kim, on Thursday morning (3 a.m. ET). They’ll meet Japan’s Ayano Tsuchiya (0-6) in the evening game (1 p.m. ET). Both games will be broadcast on Curlinggeek.com. Team Canada men will face Turkey’s Ugurcan Karagoz on Thursday afternoon (8 a.m. ET). Event information, including news and live scoring, are available at the event website, www.worldcurling.org/wjcc2016 As well, selected games will be streamed live on the World Curling Federation’s Youtube channel, www.youtube.com/WorldCurlingTV
Team Canada's Janique LeBlanc and Karlee Burgess prepared to sweep as skip Mary Fay delivers at the Taarnby Curling Club during the 2016 World Junior Curling Championship (WCF/Marissa Tiel photo)

Team Canada’s Janique LeBlanc and Karlee Burgess prepared to sweep as skip Mary Fay delivers at the Taarnby Curling Club during the 2016 World Junior Curling Championship (WCF/Marissa Tiel photo)