A snowstorm that paralyzed the British Isles may have delayed their arrival in Scotland, but it didn’t derail Coquitlam’s Zachary Curtis and his teammates on skip Tyler Tardi’s rink from winning the world junior men’s curling championship on Saturday in Aberdeen. Tardi’s Langley/Royal City-based team beat the host Scottish team 6-5 in 11 ends.
Tardi was able to draw his last shot of the first extra end around a well-placed guard to the four-foot ring and bump Scotland’s scoring rock just enough to gain the winning advantage.
“It was pretty exciting,” Curtis said of the nail-biting conclusion to the championship finale.
Tardi’s Canadian contingent seemed to have the game well in hand after scoring three in the sixth end to go up 4-2 over Scotland, who hadn’t lost all week. Canada then extended their margin to 5-2 and the Scots seemed at a loss.
Curtis, who joined Tardi’s team at the beginning of the season, said both teams were struggling with difficult ice conditions.
“The feel of the ice was a bit off, and that was resulting in the rocks throwing heavy,” he said.
Buoyed by the boisterous home crowd, the Scots didn’t roll over, though, as they chipped away at Tardi’s lead and eventually tied it in the tenth end to extend the match.
Curtis said the Canadians didn’t let the comeback diminish their focus. A narrow 6-5 loss to the Scots in the tournament’s third round told them their hosts could be beaten despite their unblemished record.
“We had to make sure we were fully engaged in each other, make sure everyone’s energy was where we needed to be,” Curtis said.
And with their own crowd of red-and-white-clad supporters cheering them on from the temporary bleachers erected along the edges of the small Scottish rink, they did just that to claim Canada’s second title of the day, after Kaitlyn Jones skipped her Halifax team to the women’s championship earlier.
“It was probably one of the most unique atmosphere’s I played in,” Curtis said. “The crowd was so engaged and passionate about the game. It was a pretty cool experience.”
As world champions, Curtis and his teammates have secured a place amongst other championship teams at the 2018 Humpty Champions Cup tournament that will be played in Calgary April 24 to 29. But after that the squad’s future is uncertain, as second Jordan Tardi is about to age out of the junior ranks.
