Japan and Germany secure first wins on day three

In a battle of teams yet to win a game at the BKT World Men’s Curling Championship 2025, Japan emerged victorious with a 9-7 win over Austria in Monday evening’s eighth round-robin session.

By the fifth end of the game, Japan led by 5-4 when their fourth player Yanagisawa Riku played a hit, adding two more points to their score to lead 7-4. Japan then went on to win 9-7.

Before this, in the morning session, both teams had suffered defeats — Japan lost 5-8 to Switzerland, while Austria were 3-9 losers to Germany.

Team Japan’s Koizumi Satoshi © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Czechia upset Scotland streak

In the afternoon play, Scotland had a tumultuous extra-end 6-5 win over hosts Canada in front of a packed home crowd. This game went into an extra end when, with the Scots leading 5-3 as the teams played the tenth, Canada’s Brad Jacobs played a triple take-out to level the game at 5-5. The extra end followed, and Scotland skip Bruce Mouat hit out a Canadian stone to score the one point that rewarded his team with the 6-5 win.

After this game, Scotland’s Mouat said, “We knew this was going to be a big game, and we started off strong with the three, and then settled into the game.

“But we still have a lot to do to qualify. We were lucky to have the extra end, and we played a clinical end for the result.”

After this outstanding performance, the Scots came back onto the ice to face Czechia in the evening session. The Czechs held a 5-1 half-time lead, and then, still leading 5-2, they scored a further three points in the seventh end to win 8-2.

Following this, Czechia skip Lukas Klima said, “It was really hard for them to get back onto it after their win over Canada.

“But we were really hot today, we made a lot of shots and we made it tough for them and stayed in control.”

Norway had a successful day, beating the United States 8-6 in the afternoon session and then returning to emerge as 9-8 winners over Italy.

Team Czechia’s Martin Jurik and Lukas Klipa © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Norway “Absolutely happy” with two wins

The game between Norway and the United States was tied at 6-6 as the teams played the tenth end, and when Norway skip Magnus Ramsfjell played a double take-out to score two points, he secured the 8-6 win.

After this, Ramsfjell said, “That was such a big opponent, so that was definitely a big win. At the start, we were really close but on the wrong side of the inch, but then we got a lucky break and got a four, and after that, it felt a lot better.

“It’s great, and hopefully we can keep it going. We’re absolutely happy.”

And later, against Italy, they did keep it going. By the tenth end, Norway had built a 9-6 lead. In that end, Italy skip Joel Retornaz was left with an ambitious runback attempt for four points. He couldn’t complete this and had to settle for just two, handing Norway the 9-8 win to share top spot on the table with China, Scotland, and Switzerland.

In the afternoon round-robin session, Switzerland faced China, and in the seventh end, with the Swiss already ahead 4-2, their fourth player Benoit Schwarz-Van Berkel played a hit to score two more points and give his team a 6-2 lead. Switzerland then went on to win 7-5, and they now sit in joint top spot.

Team Norway celebrate win against United States © World Curling / Stephen Fisher

Germany savour winning feeling

In the morning draw, Germany played Austria, with both teams still looking to record their first victory. In this game, Germany had built a 7-2 lead by the fifth end. Austria skip Mathias Genner then attempted a double take-out but misjudged the direction and weight, giving up a steal of a further two points to Germany, who then secured a 9-2 lead. The Germans went on to win 9-3 in just six ends, securing their first victory so far.

Afterwards, Germany’s skip Marc Muskatewitz said, “It was important to get that win. For the first games, it was a bit rough. We struggled a lot with judging the ice in the first games, but we’re more comfortable now.

“Hopefully, everything is going up. We were playing better today and we worked better.”

Germany then returned to the ice to play China in the evening session. In the eighth end of the game, Germany led 9-6 when China skip Xu Xiaoming played a hit to score four points and turn the score around to 10-9 for his team. The Chinese went on to win 11-10 to join Norway, Scotland, and Switzerland at the top of the table.