Four teams perfect after day two in Gangneung

The SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2024 continued on Tuesday 12 March in Gangneung with four sessions of round-robin play.

21 teams are competing for medals and the world title. They are divided into three round-robin groups of seven.

Click here for the standings in all groups after day one.

Group A

Four games were held in this group on the second day of round robin. Türkiye played two games. In the morning, they lost against Norway by 3-7, and then they picked up another loss against Poland in the evening. In that game, Türkiye ran out of time and with that, handed the victory to the Polish team.

The morning victory against Türkiye was Norway’s second win of the week. Afterwards, Rikke Iversen said, “It feels good, we play well and we’re happy.”

Talking about the key to their win over Türkiye, she added, “I think some tactics here and there. They play well, but it’s the tactics, I feel.”

In the afternoon, title-defenders, Latvia met Scotland and won by 6-3.

In the fourth game in Group A, Slovakia met Estonia. The teams were tied at 5-5, going into the eighth end. In that end, Slovakia had last stone and with that, scored a single for a 6-5 win.

Team Slovakia © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Group B

Six games were played in this group on Tuesday.

Last year’s silver medallists, United States met Slovenia in the morning. This event is the debut for a Slovenian team in this discipline on World Curling ice. United States won their encounter by 7-2.

Slovenia had another game on Tuesday, against Switzerland. The Swiss duo won that one by 11-7. This was the second game of the day for Switzerland’s Melanie Villars and Pierre-Alain Tercier. In the morning, they had lost to England, 5-6.

England played Finland in the afternoon. England won that game by 8-3, largely due to a steal of two in the second end and single steals in three consecutive ends in the second half.

Afterwards, Stewart Pimblett said, “We’re going to buy a lottery ticket, because we were lucky in quite a few ends. It was a good game, another win on the board.”

His teammate, Karen Aspey added, “We’re happy to get another win. We’ve got a bit lucky at times, but it’s still a win.”

England’s Karen Aspey © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Italy had two games on Tuesday. First, they played Finland and won by 11-6, mostly due to a big steal of four in the sixth. Later, they met Canada in a nail-biter game that was tied at 5-5 after seven ends. In the eighth, Italy’s last stone wrecked on a guard and they gave up a single steal and handed the win to Canada, 6-5.

Group C

In this group, six games were held on day two.

Denmark had two games. In the afternoon, they played against China. The teams were tied at 4-4 after five. Then, China had a score of two in the six and a steal of three in the seventh for a 9-4 lead. China eventually won by 9-7.

Denmark versus China © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

In the evening, Denmark won against Hungary by 7-3. Earlier, Hungary had lost against Japan, 5-6.

After their victory over Hungary, Denmark’s Kenneth Oerbaek said, “I feel wonderful! Our confidence, our connection and our trust were the key today.”

“Our goal is to finish in the top three in our group,” he added.

After their afternoon win over Hungary, Japan’s Ogawa Aki said, “We never gave up in this game. We struggled with the ice, but we just never gave up.”

Talking about her experience at the championship so far, she added, “We enjoy our time here. It’s so exciting and thrilling!”

Japan’s Yoji Nakijima © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Spain also had two games. This is Spain’s first competition in this discipline on World Curling ice. In the afternoon, they played Sweden and lost by 3-10.

After their game, Sweden’s Tommy Andersson said, “Just now I feel very-very good. I think we played very safe and we did what we were supposed to do. We put our stones where we wanted them, nearly, so we were a little bit better than Spain.”