Canadian teams off to a winning start at 2019 Universiade

A pair of University of Alberta teams led by skips Karsten Sturmay and Kristen Streifel kicked off the curling competition at the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, in winning fashion. Sturmay, vice-skip Tristan Steinke, second Chris Kennedy, lead Glenn Venance and coach Rob Krepps stole two ends on the way to a 9-4 win over South Korea’s JeongJae Lee in their opening game. In women’s action, Streifel, backed by vice-skip Danielle Schmiemann, second Selena Sturmay, lead Jesse Iles, alternate Paige Papley and coach Garry Coderre, opened with a 10-3 win over China’s Zixin Wang. The Canadians scored two three-enders and a four-ender in a dominant performance. Streifel finished the opening day with a 6-1 win in seven ends over Japan’s Kaede Kudo.

Kristen Streifel (WCF/Richard Gray photo)

Coming up, the Canadian women will fact Sweden’s Isabella Wranaa on Monday at 2 a.m. ET, while the men are up against Great Britain (Sunday at 9 p.m. ET) and U.S.A. (Monday 7 a.m. ET). Live scoring will be available on the official event website, https://krsk2019.ru/en Additionally, keep checking curling.ca for stories throughout the competition. There will be live streaming of the 2019 Winter Universiade, including selected curling matches, at www.fisu.tv/ as well as FISU’s Youtube channel. For information on the Canadian athletes competing in all sports at the Winter Universiade, go tousports.ca/en/international/universiades/winter-2019