#WJCC2020 Preview

BetweenTheSheets: Rocks be Krackin' in Krasnoyarsk

The Siberian city hosts the World Junior Curling Championships

From Moose Jaw to Krasnoyarsk....welcome to another episode of "As The Rock Turns".

Lots of excitement on the pebbled ice this team of year rock heads. We have national championships underway (USA, Switzerland, Scotland, Japan). We have national championship about to throw their first rocks (Canada). And we are ready to crown new world junior championships.

If one eye is on the action in Moose Jaw, your other curling eye better be on the action in Siberia, Russia where the #NextGen athletes are ready to take the ice for the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships.

Now in fine #TwineTime tradition, we often look back before we look forward. The World Junior Curling Championships often help form the future look of Grand Slam of Curling events and world championships. The athletes competing this week in Russia could be future Olympic gold medal winners.

Time for a brief history lesson rock heads....

• The first junior men's competition was 1975 held in East York, Ontario. The champion was Sweden's Jan Ullsten who defeated Canada's Robb King in the final. The first women's competition was 1988 in Chamonix, France with Canada's Julie Sutton taking the title over Switzerland's Marianne Amstutz.
• There have been 45 junior men's championships contested and 32 junior women's championships. Overall Canada leads the way with world titles, collecting 20 junior men and 12 junior women gold medals. Scotland follows for both with 10 (men) and 9 (women) respectively. Sweden sits third with titles won, collecting 5 (men, tied with Switzerland) and 4 (women). There have been 7 different nations hoisting the trophy for the men and women. Canada, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and USA have won both. Denmark and South Korea have one title for the junior men. Russia (3) and Norway (1) have won for the junior women.
• For overall medal count, Canada once again leads the way. The Maple Leaf has landed on the podium in 38 of the 45 junior men's championships and an even more remarkable 29 of 32 junior women's championships. Scotland is second on overall count for the men (29) while Sweden is second for the women (17). Add it all up and Canada has landed on the collective podium 66 of the 76 times the world junior championships have been held. Scotland is next with 44 with Switzerland third at 38.
• It is a Silver Medal Lining for the #SwedishVikings. The Swedish junior men have 11 silver medal wins (Canada has 10) while the junior women have 8 (Canada leads with 9). Leading the way with bronze medal wins is Scotland (13 - men) and Canada (8 - women).
• Collectively 12 different nations have landed on the podium at least once at a junior men's championship. South Korea has one medal but it was golden in 2017. Finland (1997) and Russia (2013) also have won one medal. Denmark and France have won two medals with France yet to win gold.
• There have been 13 different nations donning the junior women's championship podium. Czech Republic (1 silver - 2012), China (1 bronze - 2018) and Italy (1 bronze - 2003) sit with a lone medal. Norway and South Korea are sitting with 2 overall medals.
• Slide in the right direction? How about this roll call example of junior men's champions: Peja Lindholm (1989), John Morris (1998, 1999), Brad Gushue (2001), Niklas Edin (2004), Peter de Cruz (2010), Oskar Eriksson (2011), Bruce Mouat (2016) and Tyler Tardi (2018, 2019).
• A sweeping success in the women's game? A sample roll call of junior women's champions sure seems to support the claim: Julie Sutton (1988), Silvana Tirinzoni (1999), Eve Muirhead (2008, 2009, 2011), Anna Hasselborg (2010), Alina Kovaleva (2013) and Isabella Wrana (2017).

Now you are ready for that eventual difficult Jeopardy round called "World Junior Curling Championships". That has to be a thing some day right?

Ready for our second world championship event of the season? Polish your rocks, slip on your sliders and clean your brooms. Out of the hack we come with the annual preview and predictions:

World Junior Curling Championships

Krasnoyarsk, Russia

2019 Champions: Canada - men (Team Tardi), Russia - women (Team Rumiantseva)

Format: 10 team RR with Top 4 advancing to SF. SF pairings will be 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. Winners advance to gold medal game, losers advance to bronze medal game.

WOMEN

Nations Competing: Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland

#Fav

Korea (Team M. Kim) - Is there any reason NOT to name Korea's Min-ji Kim as the favourite here? The team will arrive in Russia with huge momentum, having reached the Canadian Open #gsoc final in January as the Tour Challenge Tier II champions. Not to mention they have won another tour event earlier in the season and currently sit #8 on the recent #PowerRankings. Plus Kim has been here before. This will be her 5th straight appearance. She owns one bronze medal (2016) and a 4th place finish (2017). The downside? In her previous two appearances she failed to reach the playoffs. 2 playoff appearances. 2 missed playoff appearances. Here comes the 5th appearance tiebreaker.

#Contenders

Canada (Team Zacharias) - Speaking of teams on a roll, how about Canada's Team Zacharias? They dominated the field at the Canadian junior championships and look ready to take on the world. The team has won a tour title this season and reached the final at the DEKALB event, one of the top event on the women's tour every season. The wildcard factor will be vice Karlee Burgess. This will be her 3rd world junior appearance and her experience could help the rest of the team fight off any rookie nerves. Korea may be the favourite but this is a very strong contender.

Russia (Team Rumiantseva) - Can Team Rumiantseva #DefendTheIce on home ice? Last season's gold medal win was a bit of a #TeamUpset result for the young Russians. The year prior Rumiantseva and her squad finished on the bottom portion of the standings and Russia was relegated. From relegation to world champions. Quite the story. But can they defy the odds once again? The team has traveled more this season, entered numerous tour events in Canada, so that should serve as an advantage over some of their junior competitors. Defend the gold is never easy and there are strong contenders. But a playoff run is feasible and anything can happen in the playoffs. Look at last season.

Norway (Team Ramsfjell) - Kim. Burgess. Rumiantseva. All three will make their 3rd world junior appearance and all three are on playoff contending teams. Well do not forget about Norway's Maia Ramsfjell. She is also making a third world championship appearance. Two years ago she reached the playoffs but went 0-2, finishing 4th overall. Last year was a bit of a disappointment, going 3-6 and well back of the playoff pack. You can never discount experience, especially against a junior field where there will be rookie competitors. Can she rebound and be a contender once again?

Switzerland (Team Witschonke) - Want to talk about experience being an advantage? How about Switzerland's Selina Witschonke? Technically this will be her 5th straight appearance. She served as an alternate in 2016 and last year her junior team qualified but she did not compete due to also competing at Swiss Nationals at the same time. She ended up serving as an alternate last year. She did compete on the ice in 2017 and 2018 though, losing a TB in 2017 and finishing 1 game out of the playoffs in 2018. Last year her team ended up winning the bronze medal. This year she returns with a completely different team, all making the debut on world ice. They may have a tough go against some stronger, more experienced teams but Witschonke's experience alone puts this team in the playoff discussion.

#TeamUpset

Denmark (Team Halse) - The #TeamUpset of the 2019 European Championships will try to wave the flag once again at a major international championship. Denmark's Team Halse made some noise in Helsingborg, Sweden last November when they finished 7th overall at the European Championships, qualifying Denmark for the upcoming 2020 World Women's Curling Championship. Skipper Mathilde Halse may only be 20 years old but she has a pretty solid curling resume under her young slider. She has represented Denmark at the past three European's and was lead for Team Dupont at the 2018 Winter Olympics. On paper, her resume could be argued to be stronger than anyone else in this competition. Denmark took the long path to get here, having to qualify via the World Junior-B Curling Championships, where they finished in 3rd place. A podium finish may be tough to land against this field BUT I would not underestimate them either. A top 6 finish, earning the nation a berth in next year's world championships, is easily within grasp. Don't be surprised though if they are also in the playoff discussion heading into the final few RR draws. Denmark has won 5 junior women's bronze medals, their only podium finishes, but the last came in 2007. Can Halse get them there again?

#W2W4

The theme of many world junior championships remains #ExpectTheUnexpected. While experience generally wins out among playoff contenders, there is always room for dark horse teams to emerge or #TeamUpset victors. See last year as discussed above. The field also welcomes the debut of Latvia. We have seen Latvia become a consistent team at the Euro A-division women's field and at the world championship but this will be a great #growthesport moment for the Baltic nation, qualifying via their silver medal at the Junior-B competition.

The field also welcomes back Hungary into the competition. Hungary will make only their 3rd ever appearance this year, previously competing in 2016 and 2017. Hungarian skip Linda Joo was vice on that 2017 team. She will look for a better result though after finishing 1-8 and being relegated.

Projected Standings:  1. Korea  2. Canada  3. Russia  4. Denmark  5. Switzerland  6. Norway  7. Japan  8. Sweden  9. Hungary  10. Latvia

Relegation: Sweden, Hungary, Latvia

Qualifiers: Korea, Canada, Russia, Denmark

WJCC Bronze Medal: Russia (Team Rumiantseva) def. Denmark (Team Halse)

WORLD JUNIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDAL: Korea (Team Kim) def. Canada (Team Zacharias)


MEN

Nations Competing: Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA

#Fav

Sweden (Team Magnusson) - Some people may look at this pick and scratch their head a bit. Sweden as the favourite? If you are one of those people, two things for you: 1. Hear me out and 2. You call yourself a curling fan? Daniel Magnusson is no unknown curler. He is not even an unknown junior curler. Magnusson has been learning from the best over the past few years. He has a world championship gold medal as an alternate for Team Edin (2019). The last two years he led his team to a bronze medal at the Swedish men's championship. This year he went one podium spot better and reached the final, losing to Edin. And he has been here before, finishing 7th in 2018. You know what they say about mentoring, how it can lead to long-term success. Well is there a better mentor in the world than King Niklas Edin? Sweden has not won this championship since 2011 (Oskar Eriksson) and not reached the podium since 2012 (Rasmus Wrana). Notice the common theme among those players? Combine that theme with Magnusson. Not to mention they did win the junior-B title to book their spot in this field. You sure you want to second guess him as a favourite here?

#Contenders

Canada (Team Gauthier) - The tides have finally turned. The Tardi Party has ended and junior men's curling in Canada is ready to usher in the next #NextGen. Hello Team Gauthier. The team capitalized on their second chance opportunity at the Canadian junior championships, entering as Manitoba #1 and becoming Canada #1. They made history in not winning their provincial championship but winning the national title. Can they do it again and win the world title? This is a strong team. They dominated the competition at junior nats and will be looking to #DefendTheIce for the maple leaf. Plus winning is in the blood. Skipper Jacques Gauthier happens to be a cousin to defending world champ Tyler Tardi. Keep it in the family right?

USA (Team Violette) - Luc Violette is making his 5th world junior championship appearance this year, having played in his first championship back in 2014 at the age of 14. But this appearance will feel slightly different. For the first time Violette will be skipping Team USA. Pressure on?! The past three years Violette was vice for Andrew Stopera and the team had successful runs. They won a silver medal in 2017 and finished 4th in 2018. Last year they finished one game out of the playoffs at 5-4 against one of the strongest and most experienced junior fields we have seen. As long as Violette does not let the pressure get to him of being the man throwing the final stones, sometimes with a game on the line, he should be able to guide his team back into the playoffs.

Germany (Team Totzek) - Speaking of experience, Germany's Sixten Totzek was also here last year. Totzek threw fourth stones for Team Harsch, finishing out of the playoffs with a disappointing 3-6 record and costing Germany to be relegated. Totzek has taken over the skipping duties this season however and led his team to a bronze medal finish at the junior-B competition, earning the final spot in this field. Totzek has strong international experience though, having represented Germany at recent European and World Championships. But there seems to be something extra about this season. Totzek's confidence is higher. His curling has improved. He seems comfortable calling the shots. Germany has never won the world junior title. In fact the last time Germany reached the podium was 2000 (bronze, Christian Baumann). Totzek could end the 20-year playoff drought.

#TeamUpset

New Zealand (Team Neilson) - The team who made all the headlines last year was New Zealand. The team not only competed in their first world junior championship but finished a respectable 6th place (4-5 record). The result earned New Zealand automatic qualification into this year's event. Now we will see what a year of experience can do for the Kiwi squad. Last year they did exactly what you need to do, beat the teams below you in the standings but lose to the teams above you. If you fail to make the playoffs, losing to the 4 teams who do is nothing to hold your head about. But can they go one or two wins better this year and surprise the world once again? Ready for #TeamUpset 2.0?

#W2W4

This is an interesting field mixed with some experience and some new faces. And most of the experienced faces find themselves in different roles from their previous appearances. It is tough to really say what will happen.

Last year was one of the toughest fields we have seen as there were very experienced teams in the field. This year will be a tough field as well but because there is so many new faces and team dynamics in play. It is tough to say what will happen.

The favourites and familiar names will garner the most attention early of course but I would not be surprised to see an under the radar #TeamUpset emerge from this field, similar to what we saw last year with the world junior women and Team Russia.

The blog is keeping with the theme here: #ExpectTheUnexpected!


Projected Standings: 1. Sweden  2. Canada  3. USA  4. Germany  5. Scotland  6. New Zealand  7. Russia  8. Switzerland  9. Italy  10. Norway

Relegation: Switzerland, Italy, Norway

Qualifiers: Sweden, Canada, USA, Germany

WJCC Bronze Medal: Germany (Team Totzek) def. USA (Team Violette)

WORLD JUNIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDAL: Sweden (Team Magnusson) def. Canada (Team Gauthier)


What say you rock heads? Agree? Disagree? There are some very strong teams competing at this world championship. These teams and athletes are the future of our sport and the future looks to be in good hands. Odds are strong we will see some of these athletes at future world championships and Winter Olympics.

Who will catch our eyes this year as being the leader of the next pack of #NextGen athletes?

#StayTuned

LOTS of curling to salivate over this upcoming week between the World Junior Curling Championships and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

ICYMI, the #STOH2020 blog preview can be found HERE.

The blog will also be in Moose Jaw providing draw by draw coverage starting Wednesday...and perhaps a few player interviews and behind the scenes action.

To all those competing in Moose Jaw and way off in Siberia, good luck and good curling!