Lillehammer, Norway
Friday 12 February 2016
Following an opening ceremony that saw the Crown Prince of Norway deliver the opening stone of the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games, in Kristins Hall, Lillehammer, Norway, there were wins for Czech Republic, Sweden, Canada and Great Britain.
The Crown Prince’s stone was swept by 2002 curling Gold medallist Pål Trulsen and current Norwegian Men’s skip, Thomas Ulsrud, who won Silver at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. Norwegian Minister of Culture, Linda Hofstad Hellelands was in the house fulfilling the role of skip.
Czech Republic began their game with a steal of six, against Brazil, before going onto win 19-0, in just six ends.
Hosts Norway and Nordic neighbours Sweden had the closest match of the day, which went to an extra end and saw Sweden steal one to begin their Youth Olympic Games campaign with a win, 8-7.
It was an impressive turnaround, with hosts Norway leading 7-4 going into the final regulation, eighth end, but a perfectly weighted stone, from skip Johan Nygren saw Sweden take three to level the scores, 7-7, before going on to win.
After stealing five in the first end, Canada put in a confident performance against Estonia. At the fourth end break it was 7-2 to the Canadians. After the break they scored another four points, before stealing two in the sixth, at which point Estonia conceded the draw, 13-2.
Great Britain, were up 4-1 at the fourth end break in their game against Korea, and like Canada, after the break, they stole two in the fifth end and then three in the sixth end. Korea managed to score one more point in the seventh end before conceding the game at 9-2.
They Said It:
Tyler Tardi; vice-skip Canada (after 13-2 win over Estonia): “It’s a cool experience being out there and having that first win is uplifting and motivating. Our team chemistry is going well and we’re having a lot of fun out there. The ice felt good, like regular Spiel, but we’re focussing on our game rather than the environment.”
Johan Nygren; skip Sweden (after 8-7 extra end win over Norway): “I had very mixed feelings throughout the game. In the beginning we played quite well, then they got a little bit of an advantage when we missed the zero, but we played very well in the last end of the original game, and then we had a little bit of luck when he missed the last shot. It was a great play at the end of the game."
GROUP B RESULTS, Session 2:
Brazil 0-19 Czech Republic; Sweden 8-7 Norway; Estonia 2-13 Canada; Korea 2-9 Great Britain
GROUP B STANDINGS after Session 2 (W - L):
Canada 1-0
Czech Republic 1-0
Great Britain 1-0
Sweden 1-0
Brazil 0-1
Estonia 0-1
Korea 0-1
Norway 0-1