WMXCC2016: it's quite an interesting experience to compete in Kazan, dutch curlers say

The morning session of the third competition day at the World Mixed Curling Championship in Kazan featured quite a few interesting and dramatic matches.

Netherlands-Estonia, 7-8 (extra end)

These teams are not among the favourites of the tournament but intend to do everything in their power to advance to the playoffs. The close-fought battle saw Team Estonia earn their second victory at the Kazan championship. "Yesterday we had a wonderful match that we can be proud of, but today we made several unnecessary mistakes and lost in the extra end. We want to thank Team Estonia for a good game; it's a sport, we will be looking forward to our next match with them," said the Dutch team's vice skip, Valeriya Miksha.

Chelyabinsk native, Valeriya moved to the Netherlands for studies several years ago. “I used to play curling in Russia; I didn’t want to give it up so I continued training in Amsterdam. Everything is different: facilities, approach, training sessions. Just like everything in our countries. But I’m happy to play here; I’m proud to play for the Netherlands. I want to win and to improve my curling skills,” the Russia-born athlete said.

When asked about the possible meet against Team Russia, she responded: “It will be a regular match; I will do my best to win. I haven’t played against Russia yet; I have played in the youth team before but we haven’t played with senior teams so far. Yes, it’s quite an interesting experience to compete in Kazan, in Russia, in my homeland. Curling allows me to travel around the world; it even took me back to Russia for a short while. I hope that it will bring luck to our team.”

Slovenia-Turkey, 4-5

The thrilling match between the teams of Turkey and Slovenia kept spectators on the edge of their seats. Slovenia showed a top-class performance but in the end it was Turkey who managed to snatch a victory. "We were a little bit out of luck today but we were still good, we gave it all and did everything we could. We started off at the tournament not so well as we expected but I believe that the more we will compete, the better we will play," admitted Slovenia's vice skip, Jure Culic.

Jure also admitted that he’s an avid ice hockey fan and didn’t miss the opportunity to attend a KHL match in Kazan: “In Slovenia, we like sports – ice hockey, football, skiing. For now, they are more popular than curling but I believe that someday curling matches will be drawing thousands of spectators to venues. I enjoyed watching the Ak Bars - Kunlun Red Stars (Beijing) match; I like a high-quality hockey game. There are many good hockey players in Slovenia but most of them prefer to move to Europe, Russia or NHL when they are young. It has a negative impact on the national championship.”

Denmark-Australia, 4-3

The nail-biting match between two curling powerhouses saw the Scandinavians claim a victory over the Australian team.

"We are very happy with the win, especially since Australia is considered the long-time favourite in this sport. But Denmark also has a long history of accomplishments in curling; we won medals practically at all championships that's why getting to the world's top 5 curling nations is the minimum programme for us. Our primary goal, of course, is to win," shared Pavia Hjoerngaard, one of the members of the Danish team.

England-Ireland, 8-5

All sports meets featuring the teams of England and Ireland are keenly contested. And the match at the Kazan tournament was no exception. "Surely, we need to defeat the English. It's a matter of principle, a matter of honour. But beyond the field of play we are friends; curling doesn't tolerate disrespect - we are all like one big family," said Team Ireland's skip, Bill Gray.

“We’ve started off not so well as we wanted but we still have a good chance of getting into the playoffs. We will try to accomplish it,” Bill assessed his team's chances of making the playoffs.

“It’s nice to know that our culture is recognisable throughout the world.  Wherever I go, I can always find an Irish pub. I saw two of them in Kazan. But I didn’t go there – I need to follow my sports regimen,” Gray said.

Italy-Romania, 6-2

This particular match turned out to be quite a surprise: it looked as if the teams of Romania and Italy had switched places overnight. If yesterday the Romanians displayed world-class curling and struggled to the last breath against Norway whereas Italy had a hard time gaining the upper hand over Scotland, today it was the opposite: the Italian team braced up and won the first ends, 6-0, taking a confident lead whereas Romania managed to break the shutout by scoring two consolation points.

“We are happy with our performance; we are pleased with this victory. Our chances for the playoffs rose sharply but we still have a lot to do. We have a tight competition schedule; we are going to play one more match today. We’ll have some rest at the hotel and then return for the evening session,” said Denise Pimpini, vice skip for the Italian team.