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Junior World Championships and Scotties 2024.

A busy week of curling just ended. Two major events deserved full attention and it was really worth it.

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The one with less impact, yet slightly less accessible, took place in Finland, where else but Lohje. The World Junior and Junior Women's Championships, which traditionally lacked the Czech national teams, were fit into eight days from 17 to 24 February. Ten national teams in each category fought not only for medals but also for the right not to participate in the World Championship B. So far, only six participants have been assured of participation in the elite, pending Italy's confirmation of hosting the 2025 World Championships. In the men's event, the Norwegians have the medals - gold - followed by the Italians and Danes. In the women's event, the Swiss have been the most successful, with Japan and the Norwegians next. The quality of junior curling is visibly rising and it is just a pity that the culmination of the young players' season is stuck in the snowy woods of a sports centre near the Finnish town of Lohje and does not find an organiser in one of the major cities of any continent.

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More watchable, and thanks to a special YouTube channel, more accessible, was the 2024 Canadian Women's Championship, the so-called Scotties. Calgary was a worthy host, and the spectator turnout was not only substantial but qualified. Three teams (Einarson, Homen and Jones) were the main favourites this time around. The format of two groups of nine teams each sent six teams to the playoffs, with Cameron, Lawes and Sturmay joining those teams. Already the Round Robin has produced some interesting and very attractive matches, as well as some teachable moments, such as the premature clearing of stones in the Jones vs. Grandy match and the ensuing debate over the number of points scored. Two causes or stories were murmuring in the background of the championship all the time. One story, although publicly presented, but hiding the punchline - Briane Harris (the lead in the Einarson team), did not enter the tournament at all, claiming she was not eligible! However, no official reason was given and all sorts of conjecture circulated the nets and still does. The other highlight was the announcement by curling megastar Jennifer Jones that this was her last season in traditional curling. The result was a surprise as the Einarson team lost two games in a row in extra time, dropping the Sturmay team into the medal fight. In the battle of the "lighter weights", the debutants, the Manitoba foursome (skip Kate Cameron) was ultimately the better team, but they succumbed to Team Jones from the same province in the following dual and took home a respectable and certainly unexpected third place from Calgary. The final victory and thus the right to represent Canada at the soon to be held Women's World Championships fell to the lucky women from Ontario, Team Homan. The battle was fought for the full ten ends, featuring accurate runbacks and perfect double take-outs, plus an unusual backspin that helped Manitoba to level the score after nine ends. The amount of inspiration and study material that Canadian curling has provided to the rest of the world through freely available videos is of great value, and Canada deserves a great deal of thanks for that.

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photo: Canadian champions, Team Ontario, Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew, Sarah Wilkes