23 January 2024
‘A dream come true’ United States and Great Britain qualify for Youth Olympic play-offs
United States and Great Britain have become the first two teams to qualify for the play-off stage at the Youth Olympic Games following an 11-5 win against Sweden and an 8-3 final against Switzerland respectively. The Americans are the only team with an undefeated 6-0 record in the competition.
“We’re super excited!” said skip Kenna Ponzio.
[It’s been] hard work to get where we are, still got a few games to go but proud of where we’re at,” added lead Owen Nelson.
The unit is leaning on their team dynamic, and fans are cheering loudly throughout their games.
“We love our fans! The more we hear them the more energy and hype it brings us,” said Ponzio with a smile.
“Our chemistry [is what’s working for us] if we miss a shot or it hurt us a little, we bounce back and we’re like ‘yeah that’s alright, we’ll fix it on the next shot’,” said vice-skip Zach Brenden.
China now trail United States in the Group A standings with five wins and one loss, while Japan and Sweden are in third with four wins and two losses. Norway have split their games, three wins and three losses a piece, with New Zealand and Türkiye both at one win, five losses. Nigeria, who scored two points in their game against China this afternoon, have zero wins and six losses.
Keeping their cool
Following an eventful evening session, Group B leaders, Great Britain, secured their spot in the semi-final. Level 2-2 at the fourth end against the Swiss, Team Great Britain put on a strong second half scoring two in the sixth end for a 4-3 lead.
Switzerland blanked the seventh, hoping to score two with the last stone in the final end, but threw their final draw for one heavy, giving up a steal of four.
“We feel absolutely brilliant,” said skip Logan Carson. “The team has been amazing all week and I think we got what we deserved and top qualifiers is a great feeling.”
“It means a lot,” confirmed lead Holly Burke. “Being able to reach the semi-finals is a dream come true.”
“I just thought we might get the odd miss out of them under pressure, and if I keep my cool then we can be in a good spot,” added Carson.
Denmark completed a comeback win against Germany, after being down 6-0 after four ends. The Danes scored seven points in the last four ends to win, 7-6. The team is tied for second place in the Group with Italy at four wins, two losses each. Sitting in third is Canada, Korea and Switzerland, all with three wins, three losses, followed by Brazil and Germany.
Three teams from each group will qualify for the play-off stage, with the top spot earning a direct bye into the semi-final.
Round-robin play will conclude tomorrow (24 January) with the qualification games taking place in the evening. The semi-finals and medal games will be on 25 January.
Click here for results and standings.
Watch the Olympics live stream here.
Watch the replays here.
