Lohja, Finland
February 10, 2015
Slovakia picked up their second win of the week Photo: WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik
They defeated China in the morning session of play to make it six wins from six games in the Championship.
China, sitting in second position in the rankings, gave them a tough game however, with only one point separating the teams throughout the game.
Russia did just enough in the final end to score a single point needed to take a 4-3 victory to keep them in first place in the standings.
The USA and Finland join China in joint second position with a record of four wins and two losses following their game against one another in the morning session of play.
This game needed an extra end to determine the victory, with the USA scoring four points from the last two ends to tie up the game.
In the extra end, USA skip Patrick McDonald was an inch too short with his final draw shot which meant Finland skip Markuu Karjalainen didn’t have to play his last stone as his team won 7-6, much to the joy of the on-looking Finnish spectators.
Canada and Scotland still have one eye on reaching the play-offs as both went head to head in this session.
In this game, Scotland led 3-2 by the fourth end break as fourth player Gregor Ewan made a draw into the house for two points in the second end, before they stole one point in the third end.
After the break Canada stole a single point in the fifth end before Scotland’s Gregor Ewan was light with his final draw in the sixth end to give up a single point steal.
Scotland then levelled the game in the seventh end, at 4-4 before Canada clinched victory with a score of two points in the eighth and final end.
Following their win, Canada skip Mark Ideson said: “It was a great game. We woke up this morning and regrouped after our tough loss yesterday afternoon but we were really close again - just on the wrong side of the dime. Scotland always play well and they always bring out the best in us. So it was a really well played game on both sides.”
Talking about the key to winning the game, Ideson said: “We changed our game plan. The first four ends we were hitting and it was an open game. They’re a very good team at that so we changed gears and threw a few short rocks and that worked out in our favour.”
Slovakia picked up their second win of the Championship at the hands of Sweden, who sit at the bottom of the standings.
Although the teams were level going into the final end, Slovakia guaranteed their win with a score of two points to claim their 6-4 victory.
Like Slovakia, Norway also picked up their second win of the week, this time against Germany.
Norway took the lead in the third end, a lead which they did not lose as they stole single points in the next two ends before scoring another two points in the seventh end.
Germany conceded in the eighth end with the final score 6-2, a win that keeps Norway’s hopes of avoiding relegation to the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event alive.
After this game, Norway skip Rune Lorentsen reflected on the week so far. He said: “We had faith in ourselves this morning. We’ve just been doing the same things we’ve been doing in practice and in the other games throughout the competition. I don’t know what happened in the games before but it seems like we’ve not been able to tackle the arena ice. In this game, most of the stones played as they should which helped us build our confidence.”
Looking towards their remaining games he added: “It’s one game at a time. The first goal is to make it into the top seven so we don’t have to play in Qualification event again. It will depend on the other games but I don’t think the Page Play-offs are an option now. We just need to win the rest of our games to stay in the top group.”
RESULTS
Session 6: Scotland 4, Canada 6; Slovakia 6, Sweden 4; USA 6, Finland 7; Russia 4, China 3; Germany 2, Norway 6.
Standings after 6 sessions of play (W-L):
1. Russia 6-0
2. China 4-2
2. Finland 4-2
2. USA 4-2
5. Canada 3-3
6. Germany 2-4
6. Norway 2-4
6. Scotland 2-4
6. Slovakia 2-4
10. Sweden 1-5
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