The campaign of Julia Zelingrová and Ondřej Blaha at the Youth Olympics (YOG) in South Korea ends in the quarterfinals. By a single point, they were not enough for the American couple, who eventually took the bronze. In the quarter-final match, they first led, the USA team then equalized, but the Czechs managed to get four in the seventh end and take the lead by three points. Unfortunately, at the very end of the game, the Americans also managed a four and ended the match with a score of 8:7.

“We will have the match against the USA in our heads for a long time, but hopefully the pain from the end of it will move us somewhere. Progress to the semi-finals was awfully close as we led by three points before the final end. Julča’s last stone was missing by about 5 millimeters because he licked the guard, so we got a four. The Americans were not a rebound team for us, we are even more sorry for the elimination, because we could have won a medal,” Czech coach Petr Horák commented on the quarter-final match.

The overall victory in the mixed doubles category at the YOG goes to the British, who were the only ones who managed to beat Julia and Ondřej in the basic part of the group. The silver then travels to Denmark.

Although in the end the Czech pair leaves Korea without a medal, their performance is one of the best that Czech curling has performed at the Youth Olympics. The last time the Czech team made it to the playoffs was in 2012, when it was also eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Nevertheless, the Czech representatives thank you for your support. “A huge thank you to both Julč and Ondra for their perfect approach and representation. It was an honor to work with both of them,” concludes Petr Horák.