Russia, China, Finland, Slovakia qualify for play-offs

 

Lohja, Finland
February 11, 2015

Slovakia qualified for play-offs along with Russia, China and Finland Photo: WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik

China, Finland and Slovakia joined Russia in the Page play-offs following the conclusion of the round-robin stage of the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015 being played at the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja, Finland.

China’s win against Norway and Russia’s win against Germany in the morning session means that Russia will play China in the Page 1v2 play-off.

Finland’s 8-4 victory over Scotland and Slovakia’s 8-5 win against Norway in the afternoon session sees them go into the Page 3v4 play-off.

This is the first time that Finland has qualified for the World Wheelchair Curling Championship play-off stages and are therefore guaranteed to finish in their highest ever ranking at this event.
At the bottom of the standings, Norway finished in tenth position and have been relegated to the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event.

Sweden, Germany and Scotland all finished with a record of three wins and six losses, however as Scotland and Germany beat Sweden during the round-robin, Sweden ranked below them and have also been relegated.

As a result, Scotland must now play Germany in a tie-breaker, with the loser relegated along with Sweden and Norway.

Both the 1v2 and 3v4 Page play-off, along with the relegation tie-breaker, will be played at 15:30 (EET) on Thursday 11 February.

The other scores in the afternoon session saw China defeat Sweden 6-5 while Germany put an end to the USA’s play-off hopes as they won 10-5, largely thanks to a score of five points in the first end.
Russia meanwhile finished off the round-robin with a 100 percent record as they defeated defending champions Canada 6-4 to end their pursuit of a play-off spot.

RESULTS

Session 9: USA 5, Germany 10; Russia 6, Canada 4; Finland 8, Scotland 4; Slovakia 8, Norway 5; China 6, Sweden 5.

Standings after round-robin (W-L):

1. Russia 9-0 (To play China in 1v2 Page play-off)
2. China 7-2 (To play Russia in 1v2 Page play-off)
3. Finland 5-4 (To play Slovakia in 3v4 Page play-off)
4. Slovakia 5-4 (To play Finland in 3v4 Page play-off)
5. USA 4-5
6. Canada 4-5
7. Scotland 3-6 (To play Germany in tie-breaker. Loser relegated to WWhCQ*)
7. Germany 3-6 (To play Scotland in tie-breaker. Loser relegated to WWhCQ*)
9. Sweden 3-6 (Relegated to WWhCQ*)
10. Norway 2-6 (Relegated to WWhCQ*)

*WWhCQ – World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event