Pilsen, Czech Republic
Thursday 7 December 2017
On Thursday (7 December) morning, in the Winter Košutka Arena in Pilsen, Czech Republic, Italy were the first women’s team to beat the previously undefeated China at the Olympic Qualification Event 2017.
This event qualifies the final two women’s teams for February’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
In the fourth end, China’s skip Bingyu Wang made a draw that handed her team three points and a 4-1 lead. However, in the eighth end Italy’s skip Diana Gaspari scored three of her own points to move Italy in front, 5-4. Then, in the tenth and final end Gaspari tapped a Chinese stone off the button, which was enough to secure the win, 8-5.
The hosts, Czech Republic had their second win of the event against Denmark, who were also undefeated coming this session. In the fourth end, Czech Republic’s skip Anna Kubeskova made a draw for two points and a 4-3 lead. Then, in the seventh end she made a hit – scoring two points to move in front again at 6-5. The Czechs went on to win 9-5.
In the third game of the session Latvia won against Finland 10-5. On the way to their win, in the fourth end and with the scores level at 2-2 Latvia’s skip Iveta Stasa-Sarsune drew for two points.
After this session, China remain at the top of the women’s standings, with three wins and a loss. Denmark, Italy, the hosts and Latvia are behind them with two wins each.
The next live games, on national broadcasters and World Curling TV (note geo-blocking applies), at this event will be Russia v Czech Republic and China v Netherlands men at 14:00, Central European Time (+1 hours, Greenwich Mean Time) on Thursday (7 December) afternoon.
They said it
Diana Gaspari; skip, Italy (after 8-5 win over China): “[We feel] very good now. It was a really tough game. We were believing-believing we could come back because they are a good team. We were surprised at the end we were able to do it. We are getting more and more confidence with every game – especially draw weight.”
Anna Kubeskova; skip, Czech Republic (after 9-5 win over Denmark): “This was a very important win for us, we needed it and we hope to have other ones. We would like to play as good as we played this morning [against Finland later]. On one hand it is great [being the host nation] because we have the support, we have the fans. On the other it is big pressure, but the fans are pushing us forward.”
Iveta Stasa-Sarsune; skip, Latvia (after 10-5 win over Finland): “This was a good game – the team is back, because yesterday we had two losses. The three points in the fifth end was a turning point.”
Women’s session four results: China 5-8 Italy; Denmark 5-9 Czech Republic; Latvia 10-5 Finland
Standings after women’s session four (W-L):
China 3-1
Denmark 2-1
Italy 2-1
Czech Republic 2-2
Latvia 2-2
Germany 1-2
Finland 1-2
To keep up-to-date with all the action from these championships, and the teams’ journey to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, follow us on Twitter, Instagram (@worldcurling) and Facebook (/WorldCurlingFederation) and use the hashtags: #OQE2017 #Roadto2018 #curling
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