February 24, 2024
The men played for medals on Saturday afternoon in the final match of the 2024 World Junior Curling Championship.
gold medal game
Norway defeated the United States 10-4 in the semifinals and faced Italy for the gold medal and world title. Italy defeated Denmark 7-5 in the semifinals on Friday.
Norway finished fourth in the last two tournaments. Italy ranked 5th in 2023 and 8th in 2022.
Norway took the hammer in the first end, with skip Lukas Hestmoehringen hitting a nose hit for a single.
In the second, Hestmoehlingen attempted a double takeaway but was only partially successful, giving Italy a chance to score two points. The team's fourth player, Francesco De Zanna, made a perfect draw with a 2-1 lead.
In the third, Norway scored twice with the right-back after a nose hit by Hestmoehlingen.
In the fourth, Norway had two down on one leg, and De Zanna had to tap out one of them and concede just one. He just did that and Norway stole a single. Norway 4, Italy 2 after 4.
The fifth end was blank and both teams went into the break tied 4-2.
De Zanna had to thread the final stone through a narrow port to score two points in the sixth. He did just that in 4-4.
In the seventh inning, Hestmoehlingen attempted a double takeout for three players, but it wasn't perfect, and Norway only scored a single.
De Zanna had one hit in the 8th inning to tie the game again at 5-5. In the 9th inning, Hestmellingen hit a well-timed hit to the right field, giving the lead back to 6-5.
De Zanna scored a perfect run in the 10th inning to send the game into overtime.
In the extra end, Hestmoehringen needed a double takeaway for the win and also needed to keep the shooter home. The first part was completed, but the gunman rolled away and the house was empty. This meant the teams would enter the second overtime end.
In the 12th end, De Zanna was unable to put him in scoring position until the end, and Norway won the match without throwing until the end. The final score was 7 for Norway and 6 for Italy.
After the win, Hestmoehlingen said, “We were just trying to cool our heads, and we love playing curling, so we thought, 'Why not make another end?'”
He talked about how he felt when he made history by becoming the first Norwegian men's team to win this title. I'm happy that people can go out and be proud of our country. amazing! I was speechless. Norway is coming up there, start fearing us now! ”
Italian national team skip Stefano Girri said after the final, “I'm very proud and we played very well. It's just sad that we lost.'' But we won the silver medal, so we are very happy and looking forward to next year! ”
bronze medal game
The United States faced Denmark in the bronze medal match. Both teams qualified for this tournament by finishing in the top four at the World Junior B Championship in December 2023. They faced each other in the semifinals, and the United States won 7-2.
Denmark took the hammer in the first end, scoring two points with two perfect shots from fourth player Jonathan Viland.
In the second, American skip Wesley Wendling had to tie the game at one point. He carried out the task at hand for the single.
In the third, it was Villant's turn to tie the game with a single. he made no mistakes. At the end of 3, America is 1 and Denmark is 3.
Wendling scored a run in the fourth inning, making the score 3-2 and giving Denmark the lead.
Before the final two stones of the fifth end, the US found themselves in a difficult situation with only one 8-foot stone and Denmark holding the hammer at 5-foot. Wendling was awarded a draw and Denmark had a chance to score five goals. Viland removed his one stone for America and Denmark put a big 5 on the board. They led the game 8-2 at halftime.
In the sixth, Villant's freeze was unsuccessful, giving the Americans a chance to score three points. Wendling made no mistake in the final draw, and the American scored three goals. At the end of the 6th inning, they were leading 5-8.
In the seventh inning, Vilant tried to hit first base, but it hit the guard and allowed a steal. In the 8th inning, the score was tied at 1, giving Denmark a 9-6 lead.
In the ninth, Villant completely missed the takeaway, giving the U.S. three points. Wendling made the necessary takeaway to tie the game at 9-9.
In the final end, Villant had to knock the American stone out of his shot position to earn a point. He accomplished that with a record of 10 wins and 9 losses, earning him the bronze medal.
After the game, Danish skip Jacob Schmidt said: “We've worked so hard for this, so it's an incredible feeling to finally be here and achieve our big goal.” Told. I think the five-ender was important. The game was getting tougher and tougher, and even though we didn't play very well, we tried to keep ourselves in the game, so I think it was good that we were able to sustain ourselves. ”
The gold medal winning Norwegian team consisted of skip Lukas Hestmellingen, third place Tinius Haslev Nordvai, second place Magnus Lillebo, and lead Eskil Eriksen, with substitute Harald Dahlin and coach Johan.・Supported by Hestmoehlingen.
The silver medalist Italian team consisted of skip Stefano Girri, 4th place Francesco De Zanna, 2nd place Andrea Gigli, and lead Francesco Vigliani, with substitute Alberto Caballero and coach Marco Mariani. Supported.
The bronze medalist Danish team consisted of skip Jacob Schmidt, 4th place Jonathan Wiland, 2nd place Alexander Qvist, and lead Kasper Jurranlan Boesi, with substitute Nicky Jensen and coach Lars. Supported by Villand.
At the closing ceremony, Canada's Kayleigh Lanises and Norway's Lukas Hestmoehlingen were declared the winners of the World Curling Junior Sportsmanship Award 2024. For the annual awards, all participants are invited to nominate the player they think best exemplifies the traditional Curling Curling Curling Curling Curling Junior Sportsmanship Award. The values of skill, integrity, fair play, sportsmanship and friendship during the World Championship.
Click here for all contest results.
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