WMXCC2016: Russia earns its fourth victory at tournament

The morning session of the fifth competition day saw Team Russia gain yet another victory at the World Mixed Curling Championship in Kazan.

Russia-Denmark, 9-3

Starting from the third end, the hosts took the outright lead over their opponents, making their advantage undeniable. Team Russia posted their fourth consecutive win at the Kazan tournament.

“At first we couldn’t gain the upper hand over our opponents; it was difficult but we pulled ourselves together and showed a good game. It’s always hard to start; it takes some time to get focused and to get into the zone. Today we did well; we’ll try to do the same at future games,” Maria Duyunova, Team Russia’s lead said during her interview.

Belarus-New Zealand, 4-5

Today Team Belarus were on the cusp of their first victory at the tournament in Kazan. They led, 2-0, after the first end but eventually were edged out by the New Zealand team.

Slovenia-Netherlands, 8-2

In the outsiders’ match of Group E, Slovenia managed to knock off the Dutch team in a dramatic match. It became their first victory at the Kazan tournament whereas the Netherlands ended up rock bottom of the group with four defeats.

“The game was tough, mainly due to the fact that we haven’t won any matches yet. We lost all previous matches except for today’s. This bitter burden of defeats was hanging over us, and it was really difficult to win our first match at last. We played well but we still have a lot to prove; there’s always room for perfection,” explained Ajda Zavrtanik Drglin, the vice for the Slovenian national team.

Italy-Japan, 4-6

Italy’s defeat heightened the tension in Group A to the maximum. Losing in the course of the match, 3-4, the Japanese team gritted out a victory in the final end and moved up to second place in the group.

Wales-Turkey, 4-11

Turkey remains unbeaten after holding off the challenge from the Welsh team. The Turkish curlers managed to beat their opponents with a confident score, although the first round ended with 0-2 in their disfavour.

“We started the game very well but then something went wrong. We failed to get hold of ourselves and Turkey turned the tables on us, producing one good shot after another. We can only blame ourselves; the curling sheet is perfect, just like the venue; it’s very comfortable to play here. But there will be more matches and we will try to improve our game,” Andrew Tanner, the skip for the Welsh national team, commented on the result of the match.