Canada opens World Juniors with Three Wins

Just a few days after Canada found the podium at the Winter Olympic Games in Italy, the country’s next generation of curlers is starting its quest for another championship—this time, in Denmark. 

Edmonton’s Myla Plett and Truro, Nova Scotia’s Calan MacIsaac opened the 2026 World Junior Curling Championships in Taarnby, Denmark, with three wins—two for Team Plett on the women’s side and one for Team MacIsaac on the men’s.

“It was a great start to the event,” said Plett of her 8-3 win over Japan—skipped by Yuina Miura. “It’s always nice to start the week off with a win. We adjusted well to the ice and did a great job putting pressure on their skip.” 

Plett—along with third Alyssa Nedohin, second Chloe Fediuk, lead Allie Iskiw, and alternate Abby Whitbread—won their second game of the event with a 9-4 result in the evening draw over Turkey.

“We’re adjusting well to the conditions,” said Plett. “Even with a super loud rink, we managed to maintain good communication. We played really well and feel confident heading into the rest of the event!” 

The women will face Korea’s Bobae Kang on Wednesday. They’re supported by coach Dave Nedohin, assistant coach Blair Lenton, and team leader Beth Iskiw. 

The men, meanwhile, earned a hard-fought battle, also with Japan—skipped by Chikara Segawa. Tied with hammer in the tenth end, MacIsaac was able to hit and stick for the win. 

“The Japanese team was a very tough opponent,” said MacIsaac after a 5-4 win. “They played well. It could’ve easily gone either way, but we were on the right side of the broom today, and hopefully we keep that up for the rest of the tournament.” 

The Canadians, comprised of skip MacIsaac, third Nathan Gray, second Owain Fisher, lead Christopher McCurdy, alternate Nicholas Mosher, coach Craig Burgess, and team leader Daryell Nowlan, will have a two-game day tomorrow, facing host Denmark in the morning game and Norway in the evening. 

“I liked what I saw from my guys today,” said MacIsaac. “They were all throwing really well. I thought I was throwing really well too. The speed is great. The ice is good to make lots of shots out there, so we’ll see what we can do the rest of the week.” 

The tournament format consists of a ten-team round robin draw for both the men and the women. After that, the top four teams will move on to the semifinals on March 2 to determine the medal games’ matchups on March 3. 

For scores and schedules, visit the World Curling site here: https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjcc/aspnet/livescores?EventID=0 

Games can be streamed via paid subscription on the Curling Channel here: https://curlingchannel.tv/subscribe  

This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/fr/nouvelles-media/