Canadians climb closer to leaders at Winter Universiade

Canadian university champions Karsten Sturmay and Kristen Streifel are climbing up the leaderboard after a winning day at the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Karsten Sturmay, skip of Team Canada at the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia (International University Sports Federation (FISU))

Sturmay, vice-skip Tristan Steinke, second Chris Kennedy, lead Glenn Venance and coach Rob Krepps finished the first three days of the competition with only two wins, sitting in a pack of teams chasing the leader, Ross Whyte of Great Britain. But after a two-win day, the Canadian men now sit in second place with a 4-2 record. Canada opened the day with solid performance over Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller, gold medallist at the 2014 World Junior Curling Championships. A three-ender in the ninth put Canada ahead 10-7, and a steal in ten sealed the 11-7 win. Sturmay continued to roll against Sweden’s Fredrik Nyman on Wednesday evening at the Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace. Leading 6-3 after seven ends, Canada stole a deuce in eight and the game ended with handshakes on an 8-3 Canadian win. “It was a really great day,” said Sturmay. “We knew we had to face two credible opponents today. We had our work cut out for us. I can’t say enough of the boys bringing their ‘A’ game today and can’t really ask for too much more than that.” The men have one game on Thursday, facing Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Vedral (2 a.m. ET) The Canadian women had only one game on Wednesday, but they made the most of it. Streifel and her team of vice-skip Danielle Schmiemann, second Selena Sturmay, lead Jesse Iles, alternate Paige Papley and coach Garry Coderre cruised to an 8-2 victory over Czech Republic’s Alzbeta Baudysova. The University of Alberta U SPORTS champions held Baudysova to a single in the first, then took control. They scored a three-ender in the sixth to go ahead 6-2, then stole the next two ends to put the game away. The win lifts Canada into second place in the standings with a 4-2 record, trailing the three leaders – South Korea, Russia and Sweden – who are all at 5-1. Next up for Streifel is Russia’s Maria Komarova (Wednesday 9 p.m. ET) and Italy’s Stefania Constantini (Thursday 7 a.m. ET).

Team Canada’s Jesse Iles, Danielle Schmiemann and Selena Sturmay in action at the 2019 Winter Unviersiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia (International University Sports Federation (FISU))

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