SOCHI, Russia — Corryn Brown is breathing easier after her first win at the world junior curling championships.
The Canadian women’s skip and her team from Kamloops, B.C., beat the Czech Republic’s Iveta Janatova 9-4 on Monday, stealing one point in the seventh and scoring four in the ninth end to put the game away.
“It wasn’t the funnest start to the week, for sure,” said Brown about her team’s slow start in the round-robin. “But this makes it better. It’s definitely nice to get at least one win at the worlds under our belts. But we’ll hopefully get a couple more.”
After seven draws, Canada sits 1-4 in the standings, tied with Switzerland’s Michelle Gribi and Sweden’s Sara McManus. Scotland’s Hannah Fleming (6-0) remains the only undefeated skip on the women’s side, with Denmark’s Stephanie Risdal Nielsen and Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura (both at 4-1) close behind.
In men’s action, Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone beat Italy’s Amos Mosaner 5-4.
Dunstone scored deuces with the hammer in the first and fourth ends, then stole one in the seventh for a 5-1 lead. Mosaner answered with a deuce in the ninth. Facing two Italian counters in the 10th, Dunstone made the take-out, allowing a steal of one but earning the 5-4 win.
“We played great again. We got in our comfort zone right away and we got into a quick lead, just like we like,” Dunstone said. “It was a real nice game for us. Going into the game they had the same record as us, so we knew we had to win this one. We know there’s a little more to go, but this was a huge game. We’ll celebrate for the five minutes we have but then we’ll move onto the next one.
“As soon as we can get into that comfort zone we like to play our style of game. But all of the teams are great here and we know that we’re not always going to get that early game lead like we’d like to.”
The Canadian men now have a 4-2 record, tied for second place in the standings with Eirik Mjoen of Norway, Evgeny Arkhipov of Russia, and Patric Mabergs of Sweden, and within reach of leader Kyle Smith of Scotland (5-1). Brown faces Switzerland and the United States on Tuesday, while Dunstone meets the U.S. in his only action.