4 March 2024

Latvia: lonely on the top of the rankings

Round-robin play continued with three sessions on Monday 4 March at the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Gangneung, Korea.

Session 6

In the morning, title-defenders, China (3W-OL) met United States (0W-3L). United States were leading by 3-2 at half time. Then, they stole singles in both the fifth and sixth end. China were down by three when their skip, Wang Haitao threw his last in the eighth. It was a difficult promotion take-out attempt that he missed, China scored only one and United States picked up a win, 5-3.

Afterwards, United States skip Matthew Thums said, “It feels great! Everybody played well, everybody was on broom, everybody threw the right weight, that’s what we were just missing in the first three games. It feels good to get a W on the board, especially against China, they are the top team in the world.”

Co-leaders of the standings, Norway (3W-0L) played Estonia (0W-3L), who were looking for their first win. Estonia had a great start when they stole three in the first after a miss by Norway skip Jostein Stordahl. He had another miss in the third when his shooter rolled out on a take-out and Norway gave up four for a 7-0 Estonian lead. Estonia eventually won by 9-2.

After the game, Estonia lead Signe Falkenberg said, “We stayed calm and we played our game. My shots were much better today than yesterday. We had a good rhythm and it all came together.”

Italy (2W-1L), who qualified from the World Wheelchair-B event played Sweden (0W-3L). Sweden put a big three on the board in the second after a perfect take-out by their fourth Marcus Holm. Sweden were leading by 5-4 at half time. In the second half, Italy only scored a single with hammer, and Sweden eventually won by 8-5. This was the first win of the week for the Paralympic silver medallists.

In the last morning game, hosts Korea (2W-1L) met Scotland, who had won bronze last year. The teams were tied at 2-2 after four. In the second half, Korea stole in three consecutive ends and won by 6-2.

Session 7

In the afternoon, so-far undefeated Canada met China, who had picked up their first loss in the previous session against United States. The teams were tied at 2-2 at the break. In the second half, China put twos on the board and forced Canada to take their singles, which resulted in a 6-4 win for China.

United States wanted to continue where they had left off in the morning, when they met so-far unbeaten Latvia. However, Latvia started the game better and were leading by 3-0 after two. They never let United States score more than one and won by 5-3. Latvia kept their undefeated record perfect.

Sweden attempted to pick up their second win of the day —and the event— when they played Slovakia. The Swedes were leading by 3-1 at the break. In the second half, they stole singles in the fifth, sixth and seventh end, and won by 6-1.

After their second win of the day, Sweden skip Viljo Petersson-Dahl said, “I think the first days were really tough and today we played much better as a team, all four of us. I’m really satisfied today. It’s a good feeling, going back to the hotel.”

Talking about their goals for the event, he added, “Of course, it’s playing play-offs and win as many games as we can.”

In the last afternoon session, Italy (2W-2L) played Czechia (0W-3L). The teams were tied at 2-2 after three, at 4-4 after five and at 5-5 after seven. In the last end, Italy’s Egidio Marchese made a perfect draw to the button to score one and win the game, 6-5.

Session 8

In the last session of the day, so-far undefeated Latvia (4W-0L) played Norway (3W-1L). Latvia were up 5-1 at the break, mostly due to a steal of two in the third and a steal of one in the fourth end. Norway scored one in the fifth and stole one in the sixth, but Latvia won by 6-3 and kept their unbeaten record intact to be the sole leaders of the standings.

Canada (3W-1L) attempted to improve their record of the day when they met Estonia (1W-3L). Canada put some pressure on Estonia early on, and scored a big five in the second end. They were leading by 7-1 at half time. Even though Estonia attempted a come-back and put four on the board in three consecutive ends, Canada eventually won by 7-5.

Czechia (0W-4L) and Scotland (0W-4L) both tried to pick up their first win of the week when they played each other. Czechia started with a score of three in the first and a steal of one in the second for a 4-0 lead. After a Scottish score of two in the sixth and a steal of one in the seventh, the teams were tied at 5-5, playing the eighth. Scotland’s Gregor Ewan missed his difficult last take-out attempt and Czechia won without needing to throw their last, 6-5.

After the game, Czechia skip Dana Selnekovicova said, “We have been waiting for the first win very long, but we have been playing better and better and feeling much better. We believed that we’ll get the win soon and it’s finally here. And we are very happy.”

In the last evening session, hosts Korea (3W-1L) met Slovakia (2W-2L). The hosts took a 4-0 lead after three. Slovakia could only score in the fourth end, and Korea eventually won by 9-2.

Click here for the standings after day three.

Click here for all the results and the playing schedule.

For information about streaming, click here.

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