WMXCC2016: Day 1 results

The first matches were played today at the World Mixed Curling Championships in Kazan.

Russia-Spain, 8-2

Right after the ending of the spectacular opening ceremony, the teams stepped out on the ice of the field of play. Predictably enough, it was the Russia-Spain match that got the most attention. After two ends, the score was even, 1-1, but later on the Russian team mustered strength and posted a confident win.

After the match, the Russian team’s skip, Alexander Krushelnitsky, shared his impression of the first game of the tournament, and thanked the fans for their support.

“I’m very pleased to compete here, on home soil, in Kazan. It’s a very beautiful and cozy city; we have all conditions created for us to enjoy our stay and to compete; the stands were practically full and supported us during the entire game. But our nervousness told on us – the first ends were not so successful, we made mistakes. But our fans inspired us; we braced up, our opponents started to make mistakes and to risk that’s why we managed to win so confidently,” Alexander Krushelnitsky said.

The Spanish team’s player, Gontzal Garcia, said that despite the loss in the first match he’s proud of his team: “We must be proud with how we started the match; our confident teamwork allowed us to ‘steal’ some ends from the hosts. But then we made some unnecessary mistakes, we lost a helmet, took a risk and lost. But we are not upset. Curling is not as popular in Spain as it is in the northern countries. We are not as strong as Russia, Norway and Canada. But we are learning and do our best to play better in each end, in each game. We are a team!”

Canada-USA, 9-2

The matches between two crucial rivals, Canada and the USA, are always fun to watch in all sports. This time the victory was claimed by the Canadian players who were losing after the first end, 0-1, but managed to beat their opponents in the second round with an overwhelming score, 9-2.

“We showed a good game today, we played wisely, as a team, that’s why we won. But it’s only the first match and we have a long way to go. Our goal is to win; Canadians have no other goals,” Sarah Wilkes shared her thoughts.

Guy MacAllan of the US team mentioned Canada’s strength at the ongoing tournament.

“It’s true we did not do well today but it was only the start; anxiety took a toll on us. I know that in Russia you have a stereotype about US athletes: that we want nothing but victory, only gold medal. And it’s true. We came to Kazan to win, and we will strain every effort to gain a victory. But it’s not just us who want to win; many athletes from other countries think this way too. It does not depend on a nation, it depends on a person’s ambitions. Surely, Canadians are the favourites of any curling tournament. The Russian team is strong too and it competes on home soil. Other curling powerhouses are Norway and Scotland. But we will also try to show our worth,” the US curler said.

Latvia-Austria, 4-3

The most nail-biting match of the day was between the teams of Latvia and Austria. Having dropped two ends, 0-2, the Austrians pulled themselves together and leveled the scores. But eventually Latvia managed to break the deadlock and won the match.

“You have an amazingly beautiful and interesting city! So many beautiful museums, churches, streets that I have never heard of! And a mosque! One can fully embrace the Eastern culture here,” Andreas Unterberger, Team Austria’s skip, shared his impression of the city.

France-Andorra, 8-5

Team Andorra played a closely contested game with France, even though curling is a relatively new sport in this country.

“We live in a small country; only 20 athletes play curling. But we have a our own ice arena; it’s twice smaller than this one. We train, we compete at championships. We don’t have any well-defined goals but we always step out on the ice with a desire to win,” Andorra’s team member, Josep Duro, admitted.

Estonia-Croatia, 7-3

On Saturday, the morning session will feature the following matches:

Germany-Wales, Brazil-England, Sweden-Netherlands, Kazakhhstan-Poland. The matches begin at the Sport Palace, Kazan at 08:00 Moscow time.