WMXCC2016: with 3-0 on scoreboard we thought that we were winning already but alas, team Denmark admit

A few rather dramatic matches were played on the closing day of the group stage at the World Mixed Curling Championship in Kazan.

Switzerland-Slovenia, 6-4

Both teams had already achieved their qualification tasks and this match was some kind of a warm-up ahead of the playoff games. The tournament’s favourites posted a predictable win over their opponents.

Turkey-Germany, 4-6

The match between Turkey and Germany turned out to be a real nail-biter. The latter team stayed unbeaten until today’s match and continued their run of success by defeating Turkey in an intense game. The victory in the final end, 3-0, predetermined the German curlers’ victory in the match.

“Turkey played very well but we had our plan for the game and did our best to follow it. And it brought us victory. We haven’t defined the tactics yet; at first we will need to find out who our opponents will be. And with this information at hand, we will be able to plan our strategy for the game,” said Team Germany’s vice skip, Petra Tschetsch.

Wales-Estonia, 6-3

Wales finished the group stage with four victories in seven games but unfortunately it was not enough for them to qualify for the playoffs.

Spain-Poland, 1-3

By beating their opponents, the Turkish curlers secured themselves a spot in the playoffs. Team Spain managed to win only one match out of six.

One of the players of the Spanish national team, Maria Fernandez, shared her thoughts of the game: “In some games we were very close to a good result but we still failed to fulfil the major part of our plan – the opponents were too strong. I think that to some extent Spain plays on a completely different level than other teams.”

According to her teammate, Gontzal Garcia, the Spanish curlers wanted badly to make it into the playoffs. “In Spain we don’t have specialised ice for curling practices. Of course, just like every team we wanted to get into the playoffs but we failed. We will keep improving our game and there will be victories.”

Denmark-Czech Republic, 8-7

The most dramatic match unfolded between Denmark and the Czech Republic. With the scores 5-2 and 7-4 in the course of the match, it seemed that the victory in this game was as good as in Denmark’s pocket but the Czech curlers were able to level the score each time. The fate of the match was decided in an extra end. Now both teams are about to meet in the battle for a playoff berth.

Pavia Hjoerngaard, the lead of the Danish national team, commented on the outcome of the game: “We finished the first end with a 3-0 win and a lot of opportunities opened up for us. We thought that we were winning already but we lost the eighth end with the same score, 0-3. However, thanks to our skip we succeeded to keep momentum in the ninth end. The game was very intense. In the evening we will have a tiebreaker with the Czech Republic and we are fully ready for it!”.