WMXCC2016: Russia and Sweden to face off in final match

The semifinal matches came to an end on the closing day of the World Mixed Curling Championship in Kazan.

Russia-Korea, 5-2

Team Russia’s coaching staff mentioned the strength of Team Korea, who had managed to defeat Germany earlier, and brought attention to the fact that the Russian curlers needed to strictly follow the instructions for the match. The lessons were learned. Russia won the first end, 2-0, and stretched the lead in the fourth end to 4-1, dashing Korea’s hopes to the ground with a confident win.

“It was a very difficult game for us. We needed to win. Sweden has a strong team. We’ve already played against them. We will try to show our best game in the final and to win,” said Team Russia’s vice skip, Anastasia Bryzgalova.

"Not everything went well today but we've accomplished our intermediate task. Now we need to get our thoughts in order and to win this last but the most important match. Team Sweden is strong; technically, weak teams don't reach a final!" said Vasily Gudin, the senior coach of the Russian national team.

Sweden-Scotland, 8-2

Yesterday both teams had very intense, nerve-wracking games in the quarterfinals and this weariness couldn’t but take a toll on the curlers today. The Swedish team managed to recover faster before the semi. They won the first three ends, 3-0, and didn’t surrender the lead to Team Scotland until the end of the match.

"We failed everything today; it was terrible... We need to pull ourselves together and to compete well in the bronze medal match. It will be a shame to leave for home without medals," said the lead of Team Scotland, Sophie Jackson.

The final and bronze medal match will be played at the Sport Palace on Saturday at 14:00.