Sweden’s men are out in 2023

Traditional curling powers Canada and Scotland have qualified for the 2023 world junior women’s championship, following disappointing campaigns at the 2021 championships.

However, Sweden has failed to qualify on the men’s side.

Canada skip Emily Deschenes led her mostly-Nova Scotian squad of Lauren Ferguson, Alison Umlah and Cate Fitzgerald to a 5-4 victory over Scotland in the final of the World Junior B Championship in Lohja, Finland.

Canada, Scotland and third-place Korea have all secured spots in the world junior (A) championships at Füssen, Germany from Feb. 25 through Mar. 4.

Former skip Taylour Stevens, the 2021 national junior women’s champion skip, aged out of juniors and her teammates recruited Deschenes as a replacement for the key goal of re-qualifying Canada into the world juniors. Stevens was in Lohja in support.

“I knew I wouldn’t be playing in the worlds, but I really hadn’t prepared myself for what it actually meant,” said Stevens. “It’s really hard to be on the sidelines. I don’t know how fifth players, parents, and coaches do it. It’s really stressful when you’re watching that last rock come down. It’s a different kind of stress than when you’re throwing it.”

The semifinals were pressure-packed, as the winner would confirm their worlds berth. Canada won that one 6-4 over South Korea’s Bo Bae Kang.

“Winning the semifinal felt amazing, a huge relief lifted off our shoulders with the qualification,” said Stevens.

“There is something special about the pressure of the Maple Leaf on our back and we look forward to feeling it again in Germany.”

The Koreans won a wild bronze medal match 11-10 over Turkiyë to grab the final world berth.

Scotland’s final-game loss was the only one of the week for skip Fay Henderson.

The Canadians ran undefeated at 8-0 through the 24-team qualifier.

The women’s world junior field is now complete (in qualification order) with Norway, United States, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Latvia, Canada, Scotland, Korea and Germany as hosts.

Canadian junior women have won a total of 30 world junior “A” medals, including 13 gold. Scotland’s women rank second with 15 total medals, nine of them gold.

One week earlier, China, Italy and Turkiyë captured the three men’s berths into the world juniors in their qualifying competition in Lohja.

China’s Fei Xueqing defeated Italy’s Giacomo Colli by a 7-2 count to claim the title and the first berth, while Turkiyë’s Serkan Karagoz stole the last end for a 6-5 victory over Sweden’s Axel Landelius.

The full men’s field (in qualification order) at the world junior shootout is Scotland, Germany, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Korea, China, Italy, Türkiye and Germany (host).

Canada leads the world junior medal chase with 70 in total (34 gold) while Scotland ranks second at 46 and 20. Sweden’s men rank third, with 38 total medals and nine gold.