Four teams on three wins after two days in Gangneung

The SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2024 continued on Sunday 3 March with three round-robin sessions.

Session 3

In the morning, only two games were played in the Gangneung Curling Centre. In one, Canada met Slovakia. After a low-scoring first half, Slovakia were leading by 3-2. Canada could have scored four in the seventh, but fourth player Jon Thurston’s shooter rolled out on his last take-out and they scored only three for a 5-4 lead.

In the eighth, Slovakia’s fourth Peter Zatko wrecked on a guard with his last, they gave up one and handed a 6-4 win to Canada.

In the other game, Latvia played Czechia. Czechia were leading by 3-1 after two. In the third, their skip Dana Selnekovicova was heavy with her last draw to give up three. The teams were tied at the break, 4-4. Latvia’s fourth Agris Lasmans made a hit-and-roll for three and a 7-4 lead in the fifth.

In the sixth, Selnekovicova was slightly heavy with her last draw attempt and gave up two. In the seventh, Lasmans made a perfect hit-and-roll with his last, which set up a steal of one. At this point, Czechia conceded the game with a 10-4 final result, Latvia winning.

After their second win of the week, Lasmans said, “The start wasn’t so good, we couldn’t find the draw weight and they scored three. Then we started coming back, we figured out the speed, we put some draws in and the other team missed some take-outs and we won.”

Talking about their goals for the week, he added, “We would like to reach the play-offs and then we’ll see.”

Session 4

Table-toppers Norway played United States in the afternoon. The Norwegians were leading by 7-1 at half time, due to steals of two and three in the third and fourth end, respectively. They won by 9-3 in seven ends and picked up their third win in Gangneung.

China continued their title-defense campaign when they played Estonia. They were leading the game by 9-1 after four, due to their excellent draw play. In the second half, they forced Estonia to single points with hammer and scored three in the sixth. China won by 12-3 in seven ends.

Hosts Korea met Sweden. The Koreans had a dream start to the game: they scored two in the first and stole four in the second when Sweden’s Marcus Holm wrecked on a guard with his last. Korea were leading by 8-2 at half-time and eventually won by 14-4.

Sweden’s Viljo Petersson-Dahl © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Scotland met Italy. The Italians were leading by 3-2 at half time and won by 6-3, mostly due to five stolen points in four consecutive ends.

After their win, Italy skip Egidio Marchese said, “We started very badly, but afterwards we had enough concentration to go on with the game. We tried our feeling and we were able to win.”

Talking about starting the event with two wins, he added, “Winning is beautiful every time. Winning is great, but we need to keep our concentration for the next games.”

Italy celebrate their win over Scotland © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Session 5

Paralympic silver medallists, Sweden tried to pick up their first win of the event when they met Latvia.

Sweden were leading by 3-2 after five. In the sixth, Sweden’s Holm wrecked on a guard with his last and Sweden gave up three. In the eighth, Holm came up just a bit short with his last, Sweden only scored a single and lost by 4-5. Latvia picked up their third win of the event, while Sweden are still looking for their first.

Team Latvia © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

China took on Czechia, who were looking for their first win of the week. China were leading by 3-2 at half time. They scored one in the fifth and stole one in the sixth before a blanked seventh end. In the eighth, China ran Czechia out of stones for a 5-2 final result.

United States (0W-2L) met Slovakia (1W-1L), both teams trying to improve on their record for the day. Slovakia were leading by 4-3 after six. In the seventh, Slovakia’s Peter Zatko wasn’t successful with his double take-out attempt and they gave up one.

The teams were tied at 4-4, playing the eighth. In that end, Slovakia scored a single and won by 5-4.

In the fourth game of the evening, Canada (2W-0L) met Italy (2W-0L). Canada were leading by 3-2 after three. In the next two ends, Canada stole three to go up, 6-2. They eventually won by 8-3, scoring their third win of the championship.

After their win, Canada skip Mark Ideson said, “The messaging between games was just to simplify things. We just wanted to try and play our game—which is mostly conservative—and I think we did that well tonight.”