Oslo 2023 - junior.
Eighteen European junior teams travelled to the Norwegian capital to play in the Nordic Tour tournament. The men are playing in two groups of six, while the women have formed one group of six. There are no quarter-finals or qualifying matches, and only four teams in both categories will advance to the super-tournament. The Czech Republic is represented by both respective national teams, men with skip Chabičovský and women with the newly installed skip Krupičková. Arrival to the venue was easy. Direct flight from Prague and then by train and bus. Both teams were at the Quality Expo Hotel already on Thursday afternoon and the men even managed a late evening training session at the Snarøya Club. This is the "home club" of Norwegian curling legend Pål Trulsen, the 2002 Olympic gold medalist. The building, which houses the original four lanes, is almost fifty years old. After the Olympic success, the Norwegians managed to raise funds to expand the club by two lanes. That's a total of six. The ice is managed by former world champion and Olympic medallist Christopher Svae, among others. He told me that some days are totally filled with corporate events and since money is crucial to keep the club running, even the national team has to wait for free hours. Just before the junior tournament, several companies took turns in the hall, leaving no time to paper the rocks. The technicians had to adjust the stones the night before the first round started. The women played three matches on Friday and the men played two. The Czech juniors recorded their only win in a match against the Norwegians (Nasjos). The women lost to the Swiss, Danes and Norwegians, while the men narrowly lost to the Scots (Carson) in a thrilling contest.rn
photo: Czech junior national teams