Team Canada have finished in second place in their round robin pool with a 5-2 win-loss record, and will face the team from the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals of the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck Austria. This afternoon, the Canadians ended round robin play with a 6-4 win over the German team. Sweden finished first in their pool with a 6-1 record, while Japan and Italy also qualified for the playoff round with 4-3 records. Team USA is first in the other pool, undefeated at 7-0. Switzerland is next at 6-1, followed by the Czechs at 4-3. There will be a tiebreaker for the final playoff spot, between Norway and China, at 3-4.

Emily Gray of O’Leary PEI is lead on Team Canada, and was interviewed by Youth Olympics Games media about her experience in Innsbruck so far: “We’ve managed to do a little bit of the Culture and Education Programme,” Emily said, referring to one of the Youth Olympic Games initiatives to bring competitors together outside of competition. “Meeting so many different cultures and listening to all the different languages has been so awesome – it’s great learning from all of these different people. Getting the win today rounds off a really good few days in this beautiful city.”

Photo: Emily Gray (credit  WCF / Richard Gray)

The quarter-finals go Wednesday at 4 am PEI time, with the semis at 8 am Atlantic, and the Bronze and Gold medal games taking place at noon PEI time.

The final standings of the Mixed Teams will then determine the teams for the Mixed Doubles competition where one male and one female curler, from different nations, join together in the second curling competition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games.