Sturmay rebounds for third win at World Juniors

After starting the day with a lopsided 9-3 loss to Sweden, Selena Sturmay found her stride against South Korea’s Minji Kim, posting an 8-3 win in Draw 10 of the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships in Liverpool, N.S.

Selena Sturmay in action at the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships in Liverpool, NS (WCF/Rachel MacRae photo)

Sturmay, backed by third Abby Marks, second Kate Goodhelpsen, lead Paige Papley, alternate Karlee Burgess and coach Amanda-Dawn St. Laurent, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after stealing the first three ends and went on to control the play for most of the game. It was an impressive start against Kim, who finished sixth at the 2018 World Juniors, and whose curling résumé includes appearances at two events in the 2018-2019 Curling World Cup, including a recent gold medal in Jönköping, Sweden. The South Koreans kept chipping away at Canada’s lead and even stole a single in five to go into the break trailing by just two. But Team Canada kept up the pressure and didn’t let their opponents mount any offence. “I think really playing the scoreboard in that situation,” said Sturmay about the team’s strategy to keep control. “Kind of knowing when to bail really helped us that game.” Having the noisy Canadian crowd on their side has definitely helped the team, she said. “It’s definitely been amazing thus far. It’s great to hear everybody in the crowd cheering for you and repping the Canada gear, so to know we have the crowd behind us and all of Canada behind us is an unreal feeling.” Is the team feeling any pressure wearing the Maple Leaf at home? “I think we’d be lying if we said no,” said Sturmay. “We just want to go out and curl well and do as best as we can and represent Canada as well as we can here.” On Wednesday, the Canadian women will face Switzerland’s Raphaela Keiser (1 p.m. ET) and this game will be broadcast on the World Curling Federation’s Youtube channel. Earlier in the day, Canada’s Tyler Tardi and his crew of third Sterling Middleton, second Matt Hall, lead Alex Horvath, alternate Rylan Kleiter and coach Paul Tardi defeated Italy’s Luca Rizzolli 10-3 to move to 3-2 in the standings. On Wednesday, the men return to the ice for games against China (8 a.m. ET) and Germany (6 pm. ET). Event information, including news and live scoring, are available at the event website, https://www.worldcurling.org/wjcc2019 As well, selected games will be streamed live on the World Curling Federation’s Youtube channel, https://www.worldcurling.org/wjcc2019/live-stream