Scotland become the first men’s team to advance to the play-offs

Defending champions Scotland became the first men’s team to qualify for the semi-finals, with a 10-2 win over Czechia in just six ends.

This followed up a 12-5 victory by the Scots over Germany in the morning session.

Sweden had two wins on Wednesday. They beat Netherlands by 9-6 after defeating England by 8-3 in their morning game. They now sit in joint second place behind Scotland.

Italy bounced back from a morning 7-10 loss to Norway with an 8-5 win over Germany, to share second place with Sweden. This was a second loss of the day for Germany, who now share fourth place on the rankings with Norway and Switzerland.

Norway had given themselves a lifeline to the semi-finals with their defeat of Italy and after this win, their skip Magnus Ramsfjell said, “We’ve played so well in other games, especially against Sweden and Scotland but came out on the wrong inch, but this time it was our turn to win.”

And looking forward to their evening game against Switzerland he added, “Switzerland always bring their ‘A’ game, so it’ll be a tough one…but we’ve got to win.” And that’s exactly what the Norwegians did, beating the Swiss by 10-5 to improve their record to five wins and three losses.

Norway’s Gaute Nepstad celebrates their win over Italy © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

At the foot of the table, Austria had a good day, recording their first two wins of the championship so far. In the morning they beat Czechia by 9-8 and then followed that up with a 7-2 win over England, who remain rooted at the bottom of the table, without a win.

These results mean that Austria go into the last round-robin session still able to maintain their A-Division status and grab a place in the world championship line-up. After their win over Czechia, Austria skip Mathias Genner said, “[That first win] has been a long time coming. It’s been a very tough week so far, only playing the top teams so far. We were waiting for this win, so it’s really nice that we got it. Our goal coming into the week was to stay in the A-Division, and the world spot is a bonus, so now we get two wins then we’ll see where we stand. It’s in our own hands and that’s what we wanted coming into the week.”

WOMen’s action

The women only played one game and, in this session, struggling Hungary faced undefeated, defending champions Switzerland.

Switzerland were leading after three ends, 3-1. Then a steal of four in the fourth end and a series of steals saw them lead by 13-1 by the sixth end, when the Hungarians conceded. Swiss skip Silvana Tirinzoni said their aim for the last round-robin game is to, “just try to keep the momentum going and learn more about the rocks.”

Lithuania were on the hunt for their second win so far when they faced Norway. The Norwegians made three back-to-back steals in the second, third and fourth end, before Lithuania managed to claw back a point making the score 5-1 at the break. However, Norwegian scores in the sixth and seventh ends sealed the Lithuanians’ fate who conceded in the seventh, with Norway winning 9-1. Norwegian skip Marianne Roervik said after the game, “We have to win our last game as well and hope other results go our way, it’s not over till it’s over.”

Lithuania’s Migle Kiudyte © World Curling / James Roberts

Scotland, with their sights on qualification, faced already qualified Italy. The Scots held a 5-2 lead at the break. The Italians lost their skip Stefania Constantini in the fourth end due to a medical problem, but almost brought the game level scoring two points in the seventh and stealing one in the eighth, to trail 6-5. However, the Scots scored three points in the next two ends to win by 9-5. After the game Scottish skip Sophie Jackson spoke about their last round-robin game against Norway, “We’re really excited to be in play-off contention, so we will be going out there trying to put a really good performance together.”

Italy’s Marta Lo Deserto and Giulia Zardini Lacedelli © World Curling / James Roberts

Mid-table Denmark were searching for a good result against struggling Estonia. The Danes scored two points in the second end, but Estonia fought back and the game was close, with the teams going into the break with a 3-2 Danish lead. A score of three and a steal of two in the sixth and seventh ends went the way of Denmark, but Estonia were able to reduce the deficit, scoring two in the eighth. But the damage was already done and the Danes won by 9-4.

Danish skip Madeleine Dupont said after the game, “Right now we’re not really super-duper happy because we wanted to be up there, now it’s looking very difficult, but we couldn’t really complain about how we played there today.”

Denmark celebrate their win over Estonia © World Curling / James Roberts

Already-qualified Sweden took on Türkiye. Sweden led by 4-3 at the break, however, back-to-back single steals by the Turks in the ninth and tenth saw them win the game, 7-5. After the game Turkish skip Dilsat Yildaz said, “We had extra motivation and extra focus against Sweden. They’re a great team and former Olympic champions. We’ve never beaten them before.”

Türkiye’s Berfin Sengul © World Curling / Ladjánszki Máté

B-Division

Czechia became the first women’s team to qualify for the semi-finals, thanks to their 11-1 win over Latvia. Behind them Germany, 9-6 winners over Slovenia, lead the chasing pack.

Both men’s groups now have clear leaders. Spain, who beat Hungary by 11-3 on Wednesday afternoon, lead Group A on five wins and no losses. Denmark, also on five wins and no losses, sit at the top of Group B.

Find all the B-Division results here.