WMXCC2016: day 3 results

In the evening session of the third competition day at the World Mixed Curling Championship in Kazan, the teams of Russia and Canada celebrated victories to continue their winning streaks.

Russia-Poland, 9-4

The first end ended with 3-0 in favour of Russia but the tournament hosts had trouble breaking away from their opponents. The Polish team evened the score and put the Russian team fans on the edge of their seats. But the next end decided the fate of the match. The game finished with Russia’s confident win, 9-4.

“The Russian team had the game under control all the time. We made a mistake in the second end but as for the rest of the match we dominated the game”, said Vasily Gudin, senior coach of the Russian national team.

Canada-Latvia, 7-2

The Canadians claimed yet another easy victory although Team Latvia won two matches at the Kazan tournament and is one of the leaders in its group.

“Thank you for giving a thumbs-up to our performance, but I don’t think that we show something extraordinary. In Canada, curling is a religion; everyone knows about curling, everyone can play it; each small town has its own team. We have plenty of opportunities for development, for practice. On the ice, we are like one family; all games are played in a friendly atmosphere; we accept everything positively. I think that this attitude is the secret of our confident performance,” Canada’s Alison Kotylak said.

Australia-Czech Republic, 4-6

The Czech Republic that had left a positive impression after the match against the tournament hosts managed to earn a victory in their second match. Trailing behind in the course of the match, 1-3, they braced up and pulled out a well-deserved win. 

“Yes, it was a tough match; both teams had chances. Emotions were running high on the ice. At first, we did poorly during the game – we couldn’t get used to a warm ice but then we managed to work our way towards success,” said Team Czech Republic’s skip, Jakub Bares.

Finland-Sweden, 4-5

A good battle was expected in the match between two Scandinavian teams. And so it was. The match lasted almost three hours. Team Sweden was leading first, 3-0, but managed to snatch a victory only in the extra end.

“We usually show a good game but here there are many strong teams that can cause problems to us. We aim for medals but I don’t want to take a long shot. We grow from game to game. The match against Hungary will be very important – we need to place first in the group,” shared Joakim Flyg, one of the players of the Swedish team.

Belarus-Italy, 3-8

The Italians posted their second win in the last eight hours whereas Belarus has a hard time finding their game.

“We won two victories in one day; it’s amazing, simply incredible. We haven’t expected that we can achieve something like that. But of course, we need a lot of work to do if we want to get into the playoffs. And we do want. Abdolsutely,” admitted Denise Pimpini, the skip of the Italian team.

Ireland-Brazil, 13-4

After two defeats, the Irish curlers couldn’t afford another loss, and they proved their supremacy in the match against Brazil.  

“Many people ask how it is possible to play curling in Brazil. Brazilian curling emerged only five years ago but Brazilian curling is not exactly the right term. All members of our team are Brazilian immigrants who reside in Canada. And we also train there. Brazil has no ice arenas but I believe that someday curling will become popular in Brazil,” said the Brazilian team’s skip, Raphael Monticello. 

Korea-France, 8-3

After an intense match against the US team, Korea gained an easy win over France. It was their second victory at the Kazan tournament.

“We are not the first who say it but it’s still not an excuse. The ice in Kazan differs from the ice at European venues. It’s good but it’s warm and slidable whereas in Europe it’s cold and sticky. I hope that we will perform better and show our worth,” said Mathieu Dorbe, the player of the French team.

Spain-Kazakhstan, 13-2

The Spanish team improved its position at the Kazan tournament, earning an overwhelming win over Kazakhstan after two consecutive defeats.

“To be honest, here in Kazan we don’t have any well-defined goals. We simply enjoy our stay in the fellow republic. We haven’t been training for a long time – the federation has financial problems: no ice – no practice, no practice – no game. It’s a miracle that we were given the opportunity to come here. Our country is going to host the Universiade soon; we need to show a good performance there. But it’s tough to achieve good results under such conditions,” the skip of the Kazakhstan team, Daniel Kim, shared his thoughts in the post-match interview.

Scotland-Norway, 8-1

Team Norway were not able to recover after a whitewash at the hands of New Zealand and suffered yet another big defeat.

“The Scottish team always does well at all tournaments and it imposes a moral obligation on us. Curling is very popular in our country; only in Edinburgh we have more than 20 teams. It puts us in a favourable position,” said Cameron Bryce, the skip of the Scottish national team.

Belgium-Andorra, 6-7

The most nail-biting match of the evening session saw Andorra pull off a last-minute victory. They were losing in the course of the match, 6-3, but managed to turn the tide. It’s their first win at the Kazan tournament.

“We can be proud of ourselves – this victory is just a reward for our hard work. We came here to show what we are capable of and to see other teams but if we will be lucky enough to make it into the playoffs… Why not?” said the Andorran team’s skip, Josep Garcia.