Lethbridge, Canada
Saturday 29 April 2017
The gold medal final at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2017, being played at the ATB Centre in Lethbridge, Canada, is set with Switzerland taking on hosts Canada.
The berths for the Olympic Winter Games have also been determined after this session with Switzerland and Norway claiming the final spots for their Member Associations.
There was everything on the line for both Czech Republic and Switzerland in their semi-final game. At the fourth end break, the Czechs battled back to grab a one point lead after scoring two points in the third end and a steal of one point in the fourth end.
The Swiss, 2012 world mixed doubles champion Martin Rios and new teammate Jenny Perret, responded with a single point in the fifth end after their final stone didn’t curl enough for two. On a Czech Republic power play in the sixth end, Tomas Paul and Zuzana Hajkova were forced to draw against two Swiss stones. They came up short, giving a steal of two points. Czech Republic countered with two of their own points to tie the game 6-6, going into the final end.
On the final shot, Switzerland picked out the half covered Czech Republic stone on the four-foot to earn themselves a spot in the gold medal game, and Switzerland an Olympic Winter Games mixed doubles berth. They won this semi-final game 7-6.
China, 2016 silver medallists, faced Canada in the other semi-final. In a game of single points, Canada led 4-2 into the seventh end after a hit and stay by Joanne Courtney. China used their power play in the seventh end, but had to settle for a single point. In the eighth end, China stole the point needed for an extra end when Joanne Courtney rubbed a guard on her final shot.
The extra end found China heavy on their last stone, giving Canada the spot in the gold medal match for the first time at a World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. Canada won 5-4
In a 5-8 classification game, Norway secured their spot at the Olympics with a win over Finland. Norway led the match 5-1 at the fourth end break. In the sixth end, Norway added a single point in their favour to take a four-point lead, 6-2. On a power play in the seventh end, Finland got two points to close the gap 6-4. In the final end Norway were counting shot stone and won the match 6-4.
Scotland won their final game of the championship 7-5 against Italy, in the 11-12 classification game. The Scots scored two points in three separate ends to maintain control throughout the game, and head into the eighth end with a three point advantage, where Italy were unable to generate a multiple score.
Korea, who already have a place in the Olympic Winter Games, as hosts, beat Latvia 8-2 after seven ends to advance to the 5-6 placement game against Norway. Korea stole four consecutive ends to take a 5-0, and capped it off with three points in the sixth end to finish the game.
They said it
Jenny Perret; Switzerland (after 7-6 semi-final win over Czech Republic): “I can’t believe it, it’s great. We are at the Olympics! We can go! It’s unbelievable. I think [on the last shot] Olympian or not. We have very big highs and very big lows. We started good and she [Czech Republic’s Zuzana Hajkova] made good shots and we have nothing to do and then the power play from them, where we stole two, was big. The last year we work very hard. We practice every day – twice. It was a long way but now we win!”
Magnus Nedregotten, Norway (after 6-4 Olympic qualifying win over Finland): “That’s great! Wow! It’s a great relief, that was our goal so, wow, fantastic news! We just did what we always do – do our best, try to make our shots. I don’t think we were as nervous as the game before against Switzerland. There were a couple of key shots that we managed to do. It’s huge. It’s huge for me – I think it’s even bigger for you [team mate Kristin Moen Skaslien].”
Reid Carruthers; Canada (after 5-4 semi-final extra end win over China): "[To take Canada to its World Mixed Doubles final] well it’s pretty awesome. It really is a test too though to the World teams and how much Canada has had to catch up. We have been really tested this week.”
Results after B-side semi-finals: Russia 6-5 Scotland; Italy 4-7 USA
Results after A-side semi-finals: China 4-5 Canada; Czech Republic 6-7 Switzerland
Result after 11-12 ranking game: Scotland 7-5 Italy
Results after 5-8 ranking games: Korea 8-2 Latvia; Finland 4-6 Norway
Standings: visit http://www.worldcurling.org/wmdcc2017/livescores
Curling fans around the world will be able to follow live coverage of this championship on the event website and the World Curling Federation’s YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/WorldCurlingTV
Live broadcast coverage may be geo-blocked in your region. For all broadcast information visit, www.worldcurling.org/broadcast
To keep up-to-date with all the action from the WMDCC 2017, and the teams’ journey to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, follow us on Twitter, Instagram (@worldcurling) and Facebook (/WorldCurlingFederation) and use the hashtags: #WMDCC2017 #Roadto2018 #curling
WCTV highlights next live game: Switzerland v Canada (Saturday 9 April at 16.00, -6 UTC)