Lillehammer, Norway
Friday 12 February 2016
The 2nd Winter Youth Olympic Games Mixed curling event began with wins for Italy, Russia, USA and Switzerland at the Kristins Hall in Lillehammer, Norway this morning (12 February).
Italy won three points before the fourth end break, against Japan, to give them a 4-1 lead, which they extended in the sixth and seventh end with steals of one and two respectively. The game ended 7-1.
Russia’s game was the only one that went to the full eight ends, but it was the three points that they won in the first end, which kept the score in their favour for the most part. They beat New Zealand 7-5.
USA saw-off Turkey 7-3. It was a draw, 2-2, at the fourth end break, but a steal of three in the sixth end established their lead before Turkey took a one in the seventh and conceded the draw.
Switzerland beat China 7-2, with steals of one in the second and fifth ends.
They Said It:
Luca Rizzolli; skip Italy (after 7-1 win over Japan): "The ice was really good. I understood the speed of the ice, it was a good point I think. I like our team's dymanics, we can fight well. The Japanese skip played really nice draws, but he had some problems with the take-outs and we took advantage of it. We will focus on one match at a time and will see what will be the result of it."
Luc Violette; skip USA (after 7-3 win over Turkey): “Any win is a good win and it feels great to get our first W under our belt. We got used to the new ice conditions very well and I thought we stuck with what we’re good at, out there today.”
GROUP A RESULTS, Session 1:
Japan 1-7 Italy; Russia 7-5 New Zealand; Turkey 3-7 USA; China 2-7 Switzerland
GROUP A STANDINGS after Session 1 (W - L):
Italy 1-0
Russia 1-0
Switzerland 1-0
USA 1-0
China 0-1
Japan 0-1
New Zealand 0-1
Turkey 0-1