London curling duo Owen Henry and Brooklyn Ideson win World Junior Silver Medal

Team Canada’s Owen Henry (middle) and Brooklyn Ideson (right) are joined by team leader Laura Walker as they win a silver medal at the Booster Juice World Junior Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Edmonton. (Source: World Curling)

It was a risk-reward shot to win a world championship.

With the hammer in the eighth end of the Booster Juice world junior mixed doubles curling championship in Edmonton, Londoners Brooklyn Ideson and Owen Henry chose to play for the win rather than attempt a safer shot to force an extra end.

“We all liked the angle runback on my last,” Ideson told Curling Canada after the match. “There were more ways to miss it and still have a decent outcome. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get one that worked out for us.”

The shot narrowly missed the mark, allowing Japan’s Yuina Miura and Kaito Fujii to steal a 6-5 victory and claim the world title.

“I had the utmost faith that Brooklyn was going to be close on that runback,” said Henry, who was coming off a strong performance at the Tim Hortons Brier with Team Jayden King. “We knew the spot well from last night. We thought giving up a steal of one was a likely outcome with the runback as well, but it had the opportunity to win the game right there.”

The shot overcurled and Canada gave up a steal of two, letting a game slip away after leading throughout.

The duo, who curl out of the Ilderton Curling Club, won all eight of their matches prior to the final and will return home with a silver medal.

“I’m honestly so proud to be part of this team,” said Ideson, daughter of coach and four-time Paralympic medallist Mark Ideson. “If there’s one thing my dad has taught me throughout his curling journey, it’s that you wear your medal with pride no matter the colour.”

Earlier in the day, Canada edged Denmark 5-4 in the semifinal in a tight match in which Ideson made a hit and roll on the final stone to advance to the final.

“It was a super-exciting way to guarantee a medal and we were so proud to be able to do that for Canada,” Ideson said. “This experience has been amazing. I’m so proud to bring back some hardware and hope we gave all the fans at home some great entertainment all week.”

Ideson’s father, Mark, served as Team Canada coach and was supported by Laura Walker.

“Putting on the Maple Leaf is an honour,” Henry said. “I hope we made the entire country proud with our play this week.”