USA up-ends Sweden, moves into Saturday night semifinal
March 14, 2009
VANCOUVER (World Curling Federation)– Brett Gallant and his Canadian junior champions stole six points in the sixth end to defeat Denmark’s Rasmus Stjerne 11-5 in the Page 1 vs 2 playoff game and qualify for Sunday’s men’s final at the 2009 World Junior Championships.
Down 2-1 early in the match, the Canadians took the lead at 4-3 before blowing the game wide open in the sixth end. Denmark’s lineup made several errant throws and Stjerne faced six counters on his last stone, which ended up wide and a touch heavy.
“He (Stjerne) wasn’t that close on that shot, but other than that they had outplayed us in the game,” said Gallant.
“I don’t think I’ve ever stolen six before. That really turned the game around.”
Gallant is competing in his first world junior championships. He competed in five Canadian junior championships with two podium finishes before breaking through with a win in 2009.
“It’s been our goal all season long to win the world championship,” said Gallant.
In the Page 3 vs 4 playoff game, Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson faced defending world junior men’s champion Chris Plys of the United States in a rematch of last year’s championship final.
Plys was the victor again, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to lead 4-3 after the break. Up 5-3 in the ninth, Sweden scored a pair to tie the match but Eriksson missed a desperate steal attempt in the 10th, coming heavy on a draw for the 7-5 loss.
“It was a good game,” said Plys.
“It was the exact same score as when we beat them last in the finals of worlds. The whole team played well and set up me up well. It made my job pretty easy.”
The United States meets Denmark in the Saturday night semifinal at 7 pm Pacific time (11 pm ADT), along with Canada (Kaitlyn Lawes) and Switzerland (Martina Baumann) who will battle in the women’s semifinal.
The 2009 WJCC is hosted by the Vancouver Olympic Centre, which welcomes the 2010 Olympic curling and Paralympic Wheelchair curling competitions next year.
Live scoring, statistics and shot-by-shot graphics of every match are available at: www.wjcc.curlit.com with results mirrored at the WCF Results website at: results.worldcurling.org
The event website is located at: www.wjcc2009.com