[ritchiebaby]

There's a nip in the air and a dram in the glass - not for long! - which means it's time for curling.

These Championships are being held in Kazan, the Sports Capital of Russia, east of Moscow but well short of the saltmines. There are 37 national teams in the competition. Only Scotland and Germany, with the wonderfully named Andy Kapp playing in his 18th World Championships, have retained the same four players from last season. The venue is the Sports Palace which celebrates its 50th anniversary at the end of this month. Kazan is also one of the venues for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Our teams

England - Greg Dunn (Skip), Angharad Ward (Third), Nigel Patrick (Second) and Lorna Rettig (Lead)

Ireland - Bill Gray (Skip), Margarita Sweeney-Baird (Third), Ross Barr (Second) and Jacqueline Barr (Lead)


(last year's photo, because as usual the competition website is not fully updated)
Scotland - Cameron Bryce (Skip), Katie Murray (Third), Bobby Lammie (Second) and Sophie Jackson (Lead)

Wales - Andrew Tanner (Skip), Laura Beever (Third), David Peek (Second) and Emily Sandwith (Lead)

The Group games start on Saturday 15 October. Scotland are in Group A and start their tournament against Italy. England and Ireland are in Group B with England playing both Brazil and Slovakia and Ireland playing Sweden. Wales are in Group E and open against Germany.

On Sunday, Scotland play Norway, England play Ireland with Ireland also playing Brazil and Wales play Croatia.

The Group games will be completed on Thursday 20 October and the Medal games will be played on Saturday 22 October.

[St Charles Owl]

Looking forward to following your reports!! Any predictions for who might get the medals!!

[ritchiebaby]

No guarantees, SCO, as it's a very open competition but the usual suspects should prevail. Pick any three from Canada, USA, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Scotland. I wouldn't discount Spain, Germany, Hungary or Japan either. That's 11 selections so far!!!  

If England, Ireland and Wales finish on the plus side, they will have done well, but I don't see them being in the quarter-finals.  

[ritchiebaby]

This year's photographs - leads first, then seconds, thirds and skips


ENGLAND


IRELAND


SCOTLAND


WALES

[ritchiebaby]

Today's Results

Scotland 8 Italy 3:
Brazil 1 England 12; England 3 Slovakia 8:
Sweden 9 Ireland 2:
Germany 7 Wales 3:

[ritchiebaby]

Sunday's Results

Scotland 8 Norway 1:
England 8 Ireland 5 - after a 3 at the last end for England; Ireland 13 Brazil 4:
Croatia 6 Wales 7:

Monday's Results

Japan 4 Scotland 7:
England 6 Finland 4: Ireland 2 Hungary 9:
Wales 2 Switzerland 8:

These results mean that Scotland lead Group A with 3 wins out of 3. In Group B England are second behind Sweden with 3 wins out of 4, but Ireland are 5th with 1 win out of 3 (shortly to be 1 out of 4). Wales are also 5th with 1 win out of 3 in Group E.

Tuesday's Games

Wales v Turkey; Sweden v England; Roumania v Scotland;

[ritchiebaby]

Tuesday's Results

Wales 4 Turkey 11; Sweden 7 England 5; Roumania 4 Scotland 8:

The first result means that Turkey have already qualified from Group E (alongside Germany), leaving Wales with no chance of progressing.

Wednesday's Games

Scotland v Belarus; Slovenia v Wales; Finland v Ireland; Hungary v England; Netherlands v Wales:

[ritchiebaby]

Wednesday's Results

Scotland 9 Belarus 5; Slovenia 1 Wales 8; Finland 6 Ireland 2; Hungary 7 England 2; Netherlands 3 Wales 8:

Scotland have now joined the list of qualifiers with their 5th win alongside Japan in Group A.
England and Finland have finished their round robin games and share 3rd place with 3 wins and 3 losses in Group B behind qualifiers Hungary and Sweden. Ireland have still only 1 win and lie in 6th place.
In Group C Russia have qualified with 6 wins, having completed their round robin games.
Similarly Canada have qualified from Group D with 6 wins and 1 game still to play.
Wales have made an excellent recovery in Group E, now having 3 wins from 6 games to share 4th place with Estonia, behind qualifiers Germany, Switzerland and Turkey.

Thursday's Games

Ireland v Slovakia; New Zealand v Scotland; Wales v Estonia:

After these final games, there will be at least 1 tie-breaker game and possibly 5 of them. Much to my surprise, the winners of Wales v Estonia might feature, depending on other results.

[ritchiebaby]

Thursday's Results

Ireland 6 Slovakia 4; New Zealand 2 Scotland 7; Wales 6 Estonia 3:

Unfortunately Wales' victory over Estonia was not enough to earn a tie-breaker place, but Ireland's defeat of Slovakia allowed England, without playing, to earn a tie-breaker place versus Finland. In a very close game Finland held on to win by 6-5 to claim 3rd spot in Group B and qualify for the last 16. England finished 4th with 3 wins and Ireland were 5th with only 2 wins. In Group E Wales finished 4th with 4 wins. Scotland finished top of their Group unbeaten on 6 wins.

Friday's Knockout Games

Sweden v New Zealand
Japan v Hungary
Scotland v USA
Czech Republic v Canada
Russia v Italy
Switzerland v Finland
Poland v Korea
Turkey v Germany

The winners will play in the quarter-finals in the evening.

[St Charles Owl]

Disappointing for England but I suppose losing to an icy country like Finland was not too bad!!!