Lillehammer, Norway
Sunday 14 February 2016

Russia now lead Group A, as the only unbeaten team, after this morning’s (14 February) seventh session of round-robin play at the Curling Hall in Lillehammer, Norway. In Group B, Canada are the only team who are undefeated.

Russia beat USA, 9-6. The Russians stole points in the third and fourth ends to establish a 5-1 lead at the fourth end break. In the second part of the game USA brought the score back within two points, 8-6, but with the hammer in the final end Russian skip Nadezhda Karelina scored one point and ensured the win.

There were also wins in this session for Italy, Turkey and Switzerland. Italy beat China 6-3; Turkey edged past Japan 4-3, despite losing single points in the final two ends and Switzerland beat New Zealand, 9-4.

New Zealand took a 2-0 lead in the first end, but Switzerland scored three points in each of the second and third ends, which proved too difficult a lead to come back from.

In Group B, this afternoon, Canada beat Sweden in a very close match, 5-3, which saw the two teams tied 3-3, at the end of the seventh end. However, Canada scored two in the eighth end to secure the win.

There was a first win for Estonia, during this session. They beat Brazil 15-1, in just six ends, while Korea were victorious over Czech Republic, 7-3.

Great Britain found good form in their match against the hosts Norway. The three ends leading up to the fourth end break were significant for the Brits. In the second end they scored four points, before going onto steal a point in the third end and then another four points in the fourth. They won the game 9-3.

They Said It:

German Doronin; fourth Russia (after 9-6 win over USA): “We are in a good position, it is important for us to win. We had some problems at first and we felt the ice was a little slower today, but we started to read the ice. We need to be better because all the teams are very good and it’ll be hard to win all the games.”

Eiko-Siim Peips; skip Estonia (after 15-1 win over Brazil): "In the beginning of the game we decided to play aggressively, to try to practice for our evening game, give our best, and treat Brazil as any other team. We try to win the last games, and if not, give our best and give equal fight in those games."

Yun Jeong Hong; skip Korea (after 7-3 win over Czech Republic): "Today the whole team played well. I hope that we will continue playing like we played today. I enjoy playing at the Olympics very much, I'm very happy about being here."

GROUP A RESULTS, Session 7:

Russia 9-6 USA; China 3-6 Italy; Japan 3-4 Turkey; Switzerland 9-4 New Zealand

GROUP B RESULTS, Session 8:

Sweden 3-5 Canada; Korea 7-3 Czech Republic; Brazil 1-15 Estonia; Great Britain 9-3 Norway

GROUP A STANDINGS after Session 7 (W - L):

Russia 4-0
Italy 3-1
Switzerland 3-1
USA 3-1
Turkey 2-2
China 1-3
Japan 0-4
New Zealand 0-4

GROUP B STANDINGS after Session 8 (W - L):

Canada 4-0
Great Britain 3-1
Sweden 3-1
Korea 2-2
Norway 2-2
Czech Republic 1-3
Estonia 1-3
Brazil 0-4