Russia moved into a clear lead at the top of Group A when they recorded their second win of the Mixed Doubles OQE2021 in Sunday evening’s fourth round-robin session, beating Hungary by 9-3.
The other winners were Germany who beat Denmark by 8-7 and Australia, who won 7-3 over Turkey in what was their first game of the event so far.
Against Hungary, Russia started with last-stone advantage but gave up a steal of one in the first end. However, they recovered from that in the second end when Anna Sidorova made a hit to score four points.
In the third end, Hungary’s Palancsa Dorottya failed in an attempt to make an in-off and gave up a steal of one, to build Russia’s lead to 5-1. In the fourth end, Hungary had one shot stone when they went to play their last shot, but Palancsa threw away her last stone, fearful of destroying the situation, and reduced Russia’s lead to 5-2. Finally, Russia scored two in the seventh end and won by 9-3.
Afterwards, Russia’s Anna Sidorova said, “We’re pleased and satisfied. We’ve made 100 per cent of our goal today and we’re pretty happy about that. Now it feels pretty good. You don’t always need to play 100 per cent to win the games, you just need to play better than your opponents and make all the key shots. The thing is to stay focussed.”
Germany opened their game against Denmark with a score of three points. Denmark levelled the game in the fifth end with two points. Then, in the sixth, Germany’s Pia-Lisa Schoell played a hit-and-stay to score two and take the lead again, at 7-5. Denmark used their power play in the seventh end to level the game at 7-7, but Germany scored one point in the eighth to complete their win.
After what was their first win so far, Germany’s Schoell said, “We’re really glad that we won.” While her partner Claudius Harsch added, “Obviously, we would have preferred two wins today, but we won the last game of the day and it’s always good to be back in it…we can sleep well.”
Australia had a bye in the first session for this Group and faced Turkey in this session. The teams were tied at 1-1 when in the third end, Australia’s Tahli Gill played a hit-and-stay for one point and a 2-1 lead. They moved onto a 3-1 lead in the fourth end when an umpire’s measure gave them a steal of one.
Turkey levelled the game at 3-3 with a single steal in the sixth end. Then, the game switched momentum when Australia’s Gill played a double take-out to score four points to give the Australians a 7-3 lead. In the final end, Australia played a triple take-out to run Turkey out of stones and win the game by 7-3.
Afterwards, talking about Hewitt’s shot to win, Australia’s Tahli Gill said, “He [Dean Hewitt] likes to do that from time to time…that was a good shot.” She added, “I think our second half was definitely stronger and the four-ender was the key, especially in the seventh, that was good timing.”
Hewitt said, “Starting off the blocks with a win is key in this type of event. Every game is crucial. We’ve been around for a few years now and we’re in the bracket to see what we can do here.”
Spain sat out this Group A session.
Session four results: Denmark 7-8 Germany; Russia 9-3 Hungary; Australia 7-3 Turkey
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