Play-off race heats up in day four of the mixed doubles

Day four’s final session of play saw Guyana win their second game of the day when they defeated Ireland 11-4. This is also Guyana’s second international curling win ever.

England secured their first win of the competition when they defeated Denmark 10-8 despite the Danes staging a comeback in the second half with a score of four points in the fifth end.

Elsewhere in the session, Sweden and China won to keep pace with Scotland at the top of the group. Sweden beat Israel 10-1 and China defeated Spain 9-5.

In the session’s final game France recorded their third win of the week with a shutout 9-0 win over Slovakia.

[Pictured below: England's Anna Fowler | Photo © WCF / Richard Gray]

The third session of Day Four saw Canada, USA, and Norway keep up their unbeaten streak, while Romania recorded their first win.

Canada after winning 9-3 against Czech Republic, became the second team to qualify for play-offs, scoring seven of their points in the first four ends, and two more in the sixth end.

United States beat Netherlands 11-1, securing a position at the top of the Group-A table.

Romania broke their losing streak by beating Croatia 9-7. Romania scored five points in the fourth end, followed by three points in the sixth end and a single point in the seventh end.

Elsewhere in the session, Norway and Scotland both recorded their fourth wins. Norway beat Turkey 11-6, while Scotland defeated Hong Kong 12-1.

[Pictured below: Canada's Laura Crocker | Photo © WCF / Richard Gray]

The third session of day four (Tuesday 24 April) saw Belarus and Italy win to move onto a record of three wins and one loss and both keep pace with their group leaders.

Belarus beat England 7-4 after the scores were tied at 4-4 after five ends. Belarus then scored two points in the sixth end to take the lead, then extended that lead with a steal of one point in the seventh end before running England out of stones.

Italy beat Slovenia 11-3 after opening the scoring with three points in the first end then stole five points over the next four ends on the way to their win.

Poland recorded their first win of the week when they beat New Zealand 7-6. At the same time Australia recorded an 8-2 win over Luxembourg for their third win of the competition.

The session’s final game saw Japan and Russia go all the way to an extra end before a perfect tap back from Satsuki Fujisawa, with her final stone, giving Japan a single point and the 7-6 victory.

[Pictured below: Team Belarus win their third game | Photo © WCF / Richard Gray]

Session 16 on Tuesday morning saw Guyana record their first ever international curling win when they defeated Austria 9-6.

The session also saw United States continue their unbeaten run with a 5-3 win over Latvia. While Estonia also remained undefeated after winning 7-4 over Kazakhstan.

In the other games of the session, Germany beat Ireland 10-5 and Lithuania beat Finland 7-5.

[Pictured below: Guyana win their first international curling match | Photo © WCF / Tom Rowland]

Day four's early morning games left Korea, Turkey and Switzerland standing with unbeaten records, while Australia and Denmark picked up vital wins.

Korea's victory in this session makes them the first team to qualify for the play-offs stage on five wins. Korea had a strong second half against Brazil, to close their match 10-2 after seven ends.

Switzerland shutout Netherlands 15-0 after six ends of play, leaving Netherlands still searching for their first win. Meanwhile, Turkey held on against Romania, despite a strong comeback from Romania to win 9-5.

Denmark evened their record, to two wins and two losses, with a double takeout in the final end to beat Hungary 8-6. Then, in the final match of the session, Australia’s mother and son pair scored three points on their power play in the seventh end to take the lead on the way to their 8-6 win against Slovenia.

Results

Session 15:Brazil 2-10 Korea; Hungary 6-8 Denmark; Slovenia 6-8 Australia; Turkey 9-5 Romania; Netherlands 0-15 Switzerland.

Session 16: Germany 10-5 Ireland; United States 5-3 Latvia; Lithuania 7-5 Finland; Austria 6-9 Guyana; Kazakhstan 4-7 Estonia.

Session 17: Belarus 7-4 England; Italy 11-3 Slovenia; New Zealand 6-7 Poland; Australia 8-2 Luxembourg; Russia 6-7 Japan.

Session 18: Romania 9-7 Croatia; Hong Kong 1-12 Scotland; United States 11-1 Netherlands; Czech Republic 3-9 Canada; Norway 11-6 Turkey.

Session 19: Sweden 10-1 Israel; China 9-5 Spain; England 10-8 Denmark; Guyana 11-4 Ireland; France 9-0 Slovakia.

Athlete quotes from day four can be found at http://www.worldcurling.org/wmdcc2018/day-four-quotes

For up-to-date standings from each group in the championship visit http://www.worldcurling.org/wmdcc2018/livescores

To engage with the World Curling Federation on social media in the build to the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 follow it on Twitter, Instagram (@worldcurling) and Facebook (/WorldCurlingFederation) and use the hashtags when posting: #WMDCC2018 #curling