Scotland’s defending champions claimed a 7-5 victory over Korea to finish the pool stages of the World Junior Championships tied seventh in the table, but it was not enough to prevent them dropping into next season’s B division.
Robyn Munro, Laura Watt, Amy Mitchell, Hannah Farries and Holly Wilkie Milne went into the event with high hopes since all of them, other than Farries, were part of the team which won the gold medal a year ago.
However their results over the past week have demonstrated the ever increasing quality of the junior game across the world and the fine margins at play.
“Just like every other game Korea were tough opposition, but we came out today with one thing in mind to get that last win on the board,” said skip Munro.
“It is shame we have not been able to do that in some of the other games, but we really put in a good team performance out there today and I felt it was clinical.
“We have got three teams here this week that we regularly play against on Tour and one of them is ranked in the top 15 in the world, so I think that really reflects the strength of field here.
“All the other teams here are training really hard for this all season and some qualified up through the B Championships, so it’s a really tough competition.
“We knew that coming into this after the journey we had last season to get that world title.
“We have had nine really close games and it has been a bit of a journey.”
Last season saw the Scots take on the challenge that now faces Scotland’s women representatives again, when under skip Fay Henderson promotion was achieved from the World B’s before the team went on to win the world title and Munro is up for that challenge once again.
“We know it is possible as we have done it before,” said Munro.
“It is no mean feat at these champs with only a few wins between qualifying and getting relegated. It is tough, but we knew that.
“It is my first season on Tour as skip and my first time at this championship in that role.
“A lot of games this week were tight, so there is a lot to learn from those.
“I think as a team we have all learned a lot, plus we all – apart from Hannah - still have another year at juniors to come back fighting and do that journey from the B’s and hopefully get back here next year.”
Their team was coached at this event by the highly experienced Alan Hannah who guided Team Mouat’s men to Olympic and World finals in recent years, but he admitted that the game at this level has been transformed in recent times.
“It has been a good number of years since I was last coaching at the World Juniors and I would have to say the strength of field in both the men’s and women’s event is a lot higher since I was here probably six or seven years ago,” he said.
“I think that is credit to all the nations and athletes and all the hard work that is going on.
“For many nations this is a tough event now and an absolute challenge for all of the competitors.
“Putting our younger athletes under such immense pressure with a six up and four down situation makes this almost tougher than playing at a men’s or women’s world championships in terms of the pressure for these young athletes, so it was pleasing to see the quality in the health of the game at the junior level is in good hands.
“There are lots of learnings to take away from this about themselves and how they move forward with their training and priorities moving forward.
“It was a pleasure to work with the girls and we are just disappointed we haven’t had a better result, but there are some good things to come away from this event and that is important.”
In the men’s event, Team Carson’s bid to upgrade the bronze medal they won last year ended when they lost their first match of the final round robin day 9-7 to Denmark, but they too ended on a high by beating table topping Norway 7-5 in their final match to finish on a 5-4 record.
As Scotland’s Head Coach Nancy Smith observed, that reinforced the message regarding the rising scale of the challenge.
“The field is really strong and the quality of the junior curling out here is improving every year,” she said.
“I think what they have learned this week will certainly put them in good stead to work on the fine margins that it takes to get across the line.
“To see both teams finish on a win and not let their heads go down was good, but obviously they are very disappointed given the goals they had for this week.
“They are resilient, however, and have time to reflect and work on the improvements required to enjoy hopefully long and successful careers in the game.”
The competition takes place in Lohja from February 17 to 24.
Streaming of matches from the World Junior Championships is available from The Curling Channel. To sign up to the recently re-launched Curling Channel please follow this link.
For further broadcast details.
For more information on the World Juniors.
Team Scotland – Team Munro
Robyn Munro
Laura Watt
Holly Wlkie-Milne
Amy Mitchell
Hannah Farries (A)
Team Coach: Alan Hannah
Head Coach: Nancy Smith
Team Scotland – Team O Carson
Orrin Carson
Logan Carson
Archie Hyslop
Charlie Gibb
Hamish Gallacher (A)
Team Coach Ryan Carson
Head Coach: Nancy Smith
Team Scotland Schedule:
Saturday 17 February
7.00am – Team Munro
Scotland – Germany 4-6
12.00pm midday – Team O Carson
Scotland – Canada 9-4
5.30pm – Team Munro
Scotland – Japan 5-8
Sunday 18 February
7.00am - Team O Carson
Scotland – Italy 6-10
12.00pm midday - Team Munro
Scotland – Turkiye 10-5
5.00pm - Team O Carson
Scotland – USA 6-10
Monday 19 February
7.00am - Team Munro
Scotland – Canada 7-6
12.00pm midday - Team O Carson
Scotland – Germany 5-7
5pm – Team Munro
Scotland – Sweden 6-10
Tuesday 20 February
7.00am - Team O Carson
Scotland – New Zealand 9-2
12.00pm midday - Team Munro
Scotland – Switzerland 4-6
5.00pm - Team O Carson
Scotland – Switzerland 11-2
Wednesday 21 February
7.00am - Team Munro
Scotland – China 8-10
12.00pm midday - Team O Carson
Scotland – China 6-4
5.00pm - Team Munro
Scotland – Norway 4-7
Thursday 22 February
7.00am - Team O Carson
Scotland – Denmark 7-9
12.00pm midday - Team Munro
Scotland – Korea 7-5
5.00pm - Team O Carson
Scotland – Norway 7-5
Friday 23 February
12.00pm midday Women’s semi finals
5.00pm Men’s semi finals
Saturday 24 February
8.00am Women’s FINAL
1.00pm Men’s FINAL
Image: WCF
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