CANADA WINS AGAIN IN YOG MIXED DOUBLES 

CANADIANS LOCKE AND PERRY TAKE DOWN HUNGARY IN YOUTH OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT 

After Canada’s first Mixed Doubles game at the Youth Olympics, Simon Perry admitted there were some nerves early on. 

“I definitely had a few shakes at the start,” he said of the opening game vs. South Korea on Saturday morning. 

He and partner Cailey Locke (Conception Bay South, N.L.) went on to win a lopsided affair, and then had to wait until Sunday night to play again, this time vs. Hungary. 

This time, however, Perry (Portugal Cove, N.L.) was dialed in and ready to play. 

“The buzz has settled down a little bit,” said Perry. “My hands aren’t shaking anymore.” 

Shakes or not, the result was similar to their first victory. Canada opened with a score of two, and a steal of one, before Hungary got on the board with a single.  

A four-point end from Canada made the score 7-1 after four ends. After trading singles in the fifth and sixth ends, Hungary put three on the board in the seventh, but it was too little too late. Canada held on for the 8-5 victory. 

“We got off to a really good start in our second game,” said Locke. “It was great to find our draw weight in the early half to help keep the momentum going. Our opponents played very well throughout the game and kept us on our toes.” 

The duo is supported by Canada’s coaching staff of Helen Radford and Jeff Hoffart, along with a number of friends and family members who also made the trip to Gangwon. That, and the locals cheering on hometown Korea, makes for an exciting environment. 

“We’re feeling good. It is amazing to look up in the stands while playing and see how many people are out to watch,” said Locke. “The ice is so consistent and fun to play on.” 

The win puts Canada at the top of the Group A table early in the week, with a 2-0 record. They’ll face an inexperienced Nigeria team on Monday, followed by Czechia (also currently 2-0) on Tuesday. They’ll finish the round robin on Wednesday against Great Britain.  

In the meantime, they wait. Fortunately, there’s a lot to see and do in and around the athletes’ village. 

“We went to see the boys play hockey yesterday,” said Locke, referring to Team Canada’s game vs. South Korea. “We wandered around the village, checked out all the booths, traded some pins, and checked it all out. It’s been awesome.” 

Canada needs to finish the five-game round robin in one of the top two spots to advance to playoff round. Eight teams in the 20-team field will reach the quarterfinals, beginning on Wednesday evening. 

Some games are streaming on http://www.youtube.com/olympics and https://olympics.com/en/gangwon-2024/. CBC has daily highlights on http://cbcsports.ca 

Scores, standings, and schedules can be found here: https://livescores.worldcurling.org/