Swedish female curler (born 2000)
Linda Stenlund (born 30 October 2000) is a Swedish curler.[1] She currently plays lead on Team Isabella Wranå, also known as Team Panthera. In 2022, she won a silver medal at the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships as alternate for the Moa Dryburgh rink.
Career
Stenlund competed under the Linnéa Svedberg and Maria Larsson rinks during her junior career, however, her teams were never able to win the Swedish Junior Curling Championships. In 2022, she joined the Moa Dryburgh rink with Thea Orefjord, Moa Tjärnlund and Moa Nilsson as their alternate for the 2022 World Junior Curling Championships. Through the round robin, the team posted a 5–4 record. This tied them for fourth with Switzerland and Latvia, however, due to their better draw shot challenge they advanced to the playoffs.[2] In the semifinals, they upset the number one seeds Norway's Eirin Mesloe to advance to the gold medal game where they were defeated by Japan's Sae Yamamoto, settling for silver.[3]
After the 2022–23 season second of Team Isabella Wranå, Jennie Wåhlin, stepped back from competitive curling and Stenlund replaced her on the team. She played lead while Maria Larsson played second, Almida de Val played third and Wranå continued to skip. Team Wranå finished third at their second event of the 2022–23 season, the 2022 Oslo Cup, defeating Marianne Rørvik 6–2. In September, the team competed in the European Qualifier best-of-seven series against Team Hasselborg, which they lost 4–1.[4] They then had a quarterfinal finish at the 2022 Women's Masters Basel after a previously unbeaten record. In the first Slam of the season, the 2022 National, they finished pool play with a 2–2 record, but then lost 7–2 in a tiebreaker to the newly formed Kaitlyn Lawes rink. At the 2022 Tour Challenge, they again went 2–2 to qualify for a tiebreaker, which they won 7–4 over Hollie Duncan. Team Wranå then beat the World Champion Silvana Tirinzoni rink in the quarters before losing to Team Rachel Homan in the semifinal, marking the first time the team qualified for a Slam semifinal.[5][6] They then lost in the final of the Sundbyberg Open to Team Hasselborg.[7] The next Slam was the 2022 Masters, where the team missed the playoffs with a 1–3 record.[8] The team began the New Year at the 2023 Canadian Open, where they qualified through the A side, defeating Team Hasselborg in the A final game. In the playoffs, they defeated Jennifer Jones in the quarterfinals before losing to Kerri Einarson in the semifinals.[9] Team Wranå's next event was the 2023 International Bernese Ladies Cup where they went undefeated until the final where they fell to Team Tirinzoni.[10] The following month, they played in the Swedish Women's Curling Championship, finishing second behind Hasselborg. That same month, the team faced off against Hasselborg again for a chance to play in the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship. The two teams played in a best-of-seven series, with Hasselborg winning in seven games.[11][12] In their next two events, they finished third at the Sun City Cup and won the Swedish Eliteserien. The team finished off their season at the 2023 Players' Championship. There, they finished 4–1 record in group play, earning a bye to the semifinals. In the playoffs, they defeated Einarson, and then Tirinzoni in the finals to claim the team's first ever Grand Slam title.[13]
After suffering defeats to Team Hasselborg in both of their first two tour events, Team Wranå turned things around at the European qualifier as they won the series 4–2, earning them the right to represent Sweden at the 2023 European Curling Championships.[14] In preparation for the Euros, the team played in the 2023 Players Open where they lost to Hasselborg in the final.[15] They also played in two Slams, the 2023 Tour Challenge and the 2023 National, reaching the quarterfinals of the latter.[16] In November, the team represented Sweden at the Europeans in Aberdeen. There, they finished third through the round robin with a 6–3 record, earning a spot in the playoffs. They then lost both the semifinal and bronze medal game to Italy and Norway respectively, finishing fourth.[17] Back on tour, they reached the semifinals of the 2023 Western Showdown and the quarterfinals of the 2023 Masters and the 2024 International Bernese Ladies Cup. Days before the 2024 Swedish Women's Championship, Team Hasselborg was appointed to represent Sweden at the 2024 World Women's Curling Championship as they had accumulated more points than Team Wranå in their best five events.[18] The team then lost the final of the Swedish Championship to Hasselborg. In February, Team Wranå won their sole event title of the season after an undefeated run at the Sun City Cup.[19] To end the season, the team tried to defend their title at the 2024 Players' Championship. After a 4–1 record through the round robin, they beat Korea's Gim Eun-ji in the semifinal before coming up short to Silvana Tirinzoni in a rematch of the 2023 final.[20]
In 2019, Stenlund teamed up with Simon Olofsson, Vilma Åhlström and Axel Sjöberg to win the 2019 Swedish Mixed Curling Championship.[21] This qualified the team for the 2019 World Mixed Curling Championship where they narrowly qualified for the playoffs with a 4–3 record. They then lost to Canada 9–4 in the round of 16.[22]
Personal life
Stenlund has also competed in alpine skiing for Östersund-Frösö Slalomklubb from 2016 to 2017.[23]
Teams
References
External links
