February 02, 2011 (Erzurum, Turkey) – Canadian athletes resumed competition in curling, alpine skiing, biathlon and snowboarding on Tuesday at the 25th Winter Universiade. In men’s curling, the Queen’s University rink led by skip Jon Beuk of Kingston, Ont., improved to 4-3 with two preliminary matches remaining thanks to a 6-5 win over the United States. Canada scored two points in each of the second, fourth and seventh ends to build what looked like a comfortable 6-2 lead but the Americans refused to quit and scored twice in the eighth and once more in the tenth to make it a one-point affair.
Canada completes round-robin play Wednesday with matches at 2 a.m. ET (9 a.m. local) against South Korea (6-1) and at 12 p.m. ET (7 p.m. local) against Turkey (0-7).
After capturing Universiade gold in 2003 in Tarvisio, Italy, the Canadian men are coming off back-to-back sixth-place finishes in 2007 and 2009.
It was a different day on the ice for the Canadian women, Universiade champions in 2007 and silver medallists in 2009. The University of Regina foursome led by skip Brooklyn Lemon fell to 3-5 with one round-robin match left following losses to Germany, 8-4, and Russia, 4-3.
Against the Germans, Canada led 2-1 after four ends but saw their rivals score seven times over the next five ends, including three points in the fifth and another three in the eighth. The duel with Russia was much closer but despite erasing an early 2-0 deficit, the Canadians came up just short in the end.
Canada (3-5) completes the preliminary round Wednesday at 7 a.m. ET (2 p.m. local) against Turkey (0-8).
In biathlon, the finals of the women’s 7.5 km sprint and men’s 10 km sprint were contested on Tuesday.
Kathryn Stone also of Camrose, Alta., was the top Canadian female finishing 29th in a time of 28:29.2. On the men’s side, Jon Skinstad led the Canadian effort with a time of 33:10.1, good for the 30th position.
In alpine skiing, after a one-day delay due to poor weather, competitors were able to complete the first of two runs in the super combined event. Kendall Brown of Toronto was the top Canadian female in the slalom and stands in 26th place thanks to a time of 49.91, while Philippe Rivet of Greenfield Park, Que., crossed the finish line in 48.68 and is 24th after the men’s slalom.
In snowboarding, no Canadians advanced past the elimination round in the men’s parallel giant slalom. Calgary native and University of Calgary student Dylan Riley finished in 22nd place with a time of 1:19.04.
Both the Canadian women’s and men’s hockey teams were off on Tuesday but the women’s squad held a joint practice with Great Britain. The 30 minutes of ice time saw the red-and-white share drills and routines from a skill development perspective.
“We’re going to learn so much from this,” commented British head coach Simon Manning. “This gives our team so much energy as we’ve developed immensely and now these 28 girls have an opportunity to practice and develop with Canada.”
The reigning Universiade champion Canadian women (4-0) wrap up round-robin play Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET (8 p.m. local) against host Turkey (0-4).
TEAM CANADA RESULTS: Tuesday, February 1
ALPINE SKIING
Women’s Super Combined Slalom (Run 1 of 2)
1. Barbora Lukacova, Slovakia, 45.42
26. Kendall Brown, Toronto, Ont., 49.91
28. Nicole Poleschuk, Winnipeg, Man., 50.33
Maëlle Bergeron, Quebec City, Que., did not finish
Rebecca Nadler, Ottawa, Ont., did not finish
Marie-France Tessier, Montreal, Que., did not finish
Men’s Super Combined Slalom (Run 1 of 2)
1. Calle Lindh, Sweden, 46:18; 24. Philippe Rivet, Greenfield Park, Que., 48.68; 33. Olivier Lacaille, Montreal, Que., 49.27; Simon Mannella, Montreal, Que., 50.54; 48. Braden Long, Clarksburg, Ont., 50.92; Louis Morin, Montreal, Que., did not finish.
BIATHLON
Women’s 7.5km Sprint Final
1. Vita Semerenko, Ukraine, 23:29.5
2. Evgeniya Sedova, Russia, 24:18.7
3. Emilia Yordanova, Bulgaria, 24:27.4
29. Kathryn Stone, Camrose, Alta., 28:29.2
32. Lauren Brookes, Halifax, N.S., 30:20.9
35. Jennifer Paterson, St. Albert, Alta., 32:24.5
36. Elizabeth Mawdsley, Fort Smith, N.W.T., 32:58.2
Men’s 10km Sprint Final
1. Artem Pryma, Ukraine, 28:25
2. Sergii Semenov, Ukraine, 28:31.7
3. Evgeniy Garanichev, Russia, 28:38.9
30. Jon Skinstad, Camrose, Alta., 33:10.1
39. Kai Skinstad, Camrose, Alta., 35:15.8
40. Johnny Forward, Corner Brook, Nfld., 35:16.2
43. Jaime Robb, Hay River, N.W.T., 37:01.4
CURLING
Women’s Preliminary Round
Game 7 of 9
Germany 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 3 1 X – 8
Canada 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 X – 4
Game 8 of 9
Russia 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 X – 4
Canada 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 X – 3
Canada (3-5) completes the preliminary round Wednesday at 7 a.m. ET against Turkey (0-8).
Men’s Preliminary Round
Game 7 of 9
Canada 0 2 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 – 6
USA 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 – 5
Canada (4-3) completes the preliminary round Wednesday with matches at 2 a.m. ET against South Korea (6-1) and at 12 p.m. ET against Turkey (0-7).
SNOWBOARDING
Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Elimination
1. Sebastian Kislinger, Austria, 1:14.14
22. Dylan Riley, Calgary, Alta., 1:19.04, did not advance
26. Frédéric Laurin-Lalonde, Montreal, Que., 1:30.46, did not advance
30. Mackenzie Carter, Maryhill, Ont., 1:25.63, did not advance
38. Antoine Laurin-Lalonde, Montreal, Que., 45.37, did not advance
Team Canada website HERE.
2011 Winter Universiade website HERE.