February 12, 2015

Winter Universiade: Canadian curlers to play for gold vs. Russia

GRANADA, Spain (Courtesy of Canadian Curling Association) – The Canadian women’s curling team will meet reigning champion Russia in the gold medal game at the 27th Winter Universiade after defeating Switzerland 8-3 in the semifinal on Thursday morning.

GRANADA, Spain – The Canadian women's curling team will meet reigning champion Russia in the gold medal game at the 27^th Winter Universiade after defeating Switzerland 8-3 in the semifinal on Thursday morning.

Skip Breanne Meakin of Winnipeg and her Ottawa-based team of third Lauren Horton, second Lynn Kreviazuk, lead Jessica Armstrong and coach Doug Kreviazuk from Carleton University finished the round robin at the top of the standings with a 9-0 record, but they got off to a slow start against Switzerland's Michele Jaeggi, who kept a 5-4 record in the preliminary round, including a 6-4 loss to Canada.

After blanking the first end, the Canadians gave up two steals to trail 2-0. In the fifth, Meakin made a draw to the button to score a deuce, and the teams headed into the break tied 2-2.

Canada took control in the second half of the game, starting with a steal of three in the sixth end. They held Switzerland to singles and stole another deuce in the ninth when Jaeggi's final rock slid through the house.

"We like to keep it open in the first few ends, but then I had some unforced errors, which could have been some nerves, but the girls were playing great today and they kept me in it. I started making a lot of shots and it paid off in the second half of the game," said Meakin. "There was a definite momentum swing, especially after we stole three. The crowd really started to get into it, and it was a good finish."

With the win, the Canadian women secure their spot in the gold medal game, Friday at 3 a.m. EST (9 a.m. local time) against Russia's Anna Sidorova, who defeated Sara McManus of Sweden 10-4 in the other semifinal. Sidorova won Universiade gold in 2013 (Trentino, Italy) and bronze in 2011 (Erzurum, Turkey). The 2013 Russian squad is the only team in Universiade history to finish the competition with a perfect record.

Canada has played in three women's finals since curling was added to the FISU program in 2003, including two against Russia. The Red and White edged the Russians 6-5 in 2007 in Turin, Italy, to capture its only Universiade title, and settled for silver in 2003 (11-2 loss to Russia) and 2009 (6-5 loss to China).

"We have a very record good record by sticking to our process, and relying on what we do well," said Meakin, who defeated Russia 9-7 on Monday in round-robin action. "They're obviously a very good team, but we'll bring our best and see what happens."

The Canadian men's team - Matt Dunstone and his Winnipeg squad of Daniel Grant, Jim Coleman, Chris Gallant and coach Scott Grant – will be cheering from the sidelines after finishing fifth in the standings and missing the playoffs.

Women's Semifinal

CAN 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 1 2 x - 8

SUI 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 x - 3

Team Canada website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/universiade/winter/2015/index

Granada 2015 website: http://www.granada2015.org/en/

Women

Feb. 5 (9:00): Canada 6, South Korea 4

Feb. 5 (19:00): Canada 10, Japan 2

Feb. 6 (14:00): Canada 9, Great Britain 0

Feb. 7 (9:00): Canada 9, Sweden 3

Feb. 7 (19:00): Canada 6, Switzerland 4

Feb. 8 (14:00): Canada 16, Spain 2