Knockout sport can be cruel.
If one throw goes your way, you advance. If not, you are out.
It was the latter for the New Zealand under-21 women’s curling team, made up entirely of Otago curlers, yesterday.
The team held a 4-3 lead heading into the final end of its quarterfinal at the junior world championships in Finland, but undefeated Denmark came through to steal the match 5-4 on the final end.
The loss knocked New Zealand out of the tournament and ended the drive for a top-three finish — and qualification for the main junior world championships.
The New Zealand team of Courtney Smith, Grace Apuwai-Bishop, Zoe Harman, Lucy Neilson and Rachel Pitts had the better start. It went 1-0 up at the end and held that through the second.
However, Denmark came out strongly on the third end and took a 3-1 lead.
New Zealand then pegged back one on the next end and, after both sides went scoreless, they managed one on each of the next two ends.
That left them in the lead heading into the final end, but Denmark finished better. It executed on the final end to edge in front and advance through to the semifinals.
