[ritchiebaby]

Scotland Men rolled over the Swiss team in the first session today by 7 shots to 1, with the Swiss conceding after only 6 ends. Scotland then bounced the Czechs off the ice in a high-scoring game, winning 10-5 after only 7 ends. The Scots retain their 100% record so far and had comfortably qualified for the Semi-finals with 2 games to go. Joining them so far are Sweden who have had 2 defeats. Italy and Norway come next with 3 losses, followed by Czech Republic and Switzerland with 4 losses. Theoretically any two of these could still qualify, but Norway and Czech Republic have the harder tasks, Norway playing Scotland (live on Eurosport) and Czech Republic playing Sweden in the final session.

The Women also rolled over the Swiss by 7-2, although it took them all of 8 ends. They have qualified for the Semi-finals as well, along with Russia and Sweden on 6 wins. Germany and Switzerland are on 5 wins and Italy are on 4 wins. Scotland play Turkey tomorrow in their final game. Like the Men, the Women have guaranteed No 1 spot for the Semi-finals draw, no matter tomorrow's results.

England Men are in danger of letting things slip away after losing 7-10 to Slovenia. They lost 2 ends in succession halfway through, which proved to be the turning point in the game. They now have 3 wins, behind Turkey and Austria on 4 wins. Also on 3 wins are Slovakia and Wales. Tomorrow's schedule sees them take on Wales and then Bulgaria and they will need at least 1 win to progress.

The Women also lost their game, their first of the week, against Norway by 5 shots to 9. The loss of 5 shots in the 6th end was the deciding factor in an otherwise tight game. Thankfully they are safe in joint 1st place beside Hungary and Norway. Latvia and Lithuania are on 5 wins, with Austria on 4 wins. Tomorrow England play Hungary in a battle for top position.

Wales Men slipped up again in their quest for a qualification spot, losing 5-9 to Slovakia. The teams scored 4 ends each but scores of 3 and 4 against them gave them too big a mountain to climb. Wales conclude their programme against England and only a win will give them any chance of progressing. Even this will leave them dependent on other results working in their favour.

[ritchiebaby]

Scotland Women completed their programme with a solid win over Turkey by 9-4 after 9 ends. It was probably their poorest game overall and were only 6-4 ahead with 2 ends to go. They now progress to the Semi-finals, playing Germany at 8pm tonight. Russia play Sweden in the other Semi-final at 4pm.

Wales Men did the needful against England Men this morning, winning 9-4 after 9 ends. They were 6-3 up after 5 ends and played the game out perfectly to give themselves a slim chance of qualifying. Wales are finished on 4 wins, with England and Slovakia on 3 wins. England play bottom team Bulgaria tonight and Slovakia play leaders Turkey at the same time, so there are still 4 possible permutations to unfold.

[ritchiebaby]

Scotland Men continued their unbeaten run against Norway, winning 8-3 with 2 ends to play. They were always ahead and in control, but tomorrow it has to be forgotten and started over again, because they play Norway in the second Semi-final at 1.30pm. The first Semi-final is Italy v Sweden at 9.00am.

The Women started off slowly against Germany being 1-3 down against Germany after 5 ends, but staged a recovery to be 4-3 ahead after 7 ends. A strong finish saw them eventually triumph 7-4, possibly a triumph of experience as much as skill. They now play in the Final against Sweden, who beat Russia 5-4, at 12.30pm on Saturday. The Bronze Medal game between Russia and Germany is at 6pm tomorrow.

England Men recovered their good form to easily brush aside Bulgaria by 8-2 after 8 ends. This  put England on 4 wins, the same as Wales, but they failed to qualify as the Welsh won the game between them. This scenario repeated itself in Group B with Latvia edging out Estonia. The 6 qualifiers are Turkey, Austria, Wales, Russia, Spain and Latvia. The 2 Group winners, Turkey and Russia, go directly into the Semi-finals at 6pm tomorrow with Austria v Latvia and Spain v Wales playing at 10am tomorrow to get into the Semi-finals.

The Women were edged out by Hungary 8-9 in their final game, slipping to 3rd place with 7 wins, behind Hungary on 8 wins and Norway on 7 wins and ahead of Latvia on 6 wins. The Semi-finals are at 10am tomorrow and see England play Norway with Hungary playing Latvia.

Meanwhile Covid-19 has reared it's ugly head in these Championships today with 2 positive cases on the staff and volunteers side. All others have tested negative following rigorous testing.

[Lord Snooty]

We watched the back end of the ladies semi. Good win from behind.
Can Team Muirhead go and beat the Swedes?

[ritchiebaby]

Scotland Men once again easily beat Norway, this time by 9-3 after 8 ends. All 4 Scots scored over 90% in the percentage stakes, showing they were on top form. Sweden beat Italy by 6-3 after being 2-3 down after 8 ends. The Italian skip had a chance to draw the shot with his last stone to take the game to an extra end, but was short by a matter of inches.

The Final is now between Scotland and Sweden at 5pm tomorrow, the same teams contesting the Women's Final earlier at 12.30pm. Sweden are easily top of the World Rankings for both Men and Women, but Scotland will always have a chance in these one-off games. The Men's Bronze Medal Game is between Italy and Norway at 9am tomorrow, with the Women's Bronze Medal Game being won by Germany tonight, beating Russia 9-6 after being 1 down with 2 ends to play.

In the B Championships, Wales Men lost out in their Qualification Game, going down 4-8 to Spain. They never got in front of a dominant Spain, but can be proud of the way they competed. Latvia beat Austria in the other game. In the Semi-finals, Turkey squeezed past Spain 7-5 while Russia trounced Latvia 11-3 in 8 ends.

England Women were overpowered 4-10 by Norway in their Semi-final, greatly disappointing, but overall had a good tournament winning 7 of their 10 games so far. And they still have a great chance to redeem themselves in tomorrow's Bronze Medal game against Hungary at 11.30am. In the other Semi-final Latvia thumped Hungary by 10-2, both games over in 8 ends.

[ritchiebaby]

And the Scotland dream teams produced the goods again to win Gold in both the Women's and Men's Championships.

Men
GOLD - Scotland
SILVER - Sweden
BRONZE - Italy

Women
GOLD - Scotland
SILVER - Sweden
BRONZE - Germany

Eve Muirhead and her team took control of a nip-and-tuck game, leading 3-2 at the halfway mark, eventually winning by 7-4 with a simple take-out for 2 shots. All the Scots gained between 80 and 85% over the competition, with a team total of 83%, a measure of their consistent play.

Bruce Mouat and his crew finished the competition with a 100% record by beating Sweden 8-5, with Niklas Edin conceding with 1 end to play. His team scored between 83 and 94%, with a team average of 87%, in all of their games and dominating the competition. His team are still not No1 in the overall international rankings, but are easily the form side in the world at the moment.

In the B Division, England Women failed in their medal attempt, losing 4-8 to Hungary. They lost the 3rd, 4th and 5th ends, allowing Hungary to build up a lead and could never get a foothold in the game after that.

Men
GOLD - Turkey
SILVER - Russia
BRONZE - Spain

Women
GOLD - Norway
SILVER - Latvia
BRONZE - Hungary

[Lord Snooty]

Looking good for the Olympics.

[ritchiebaby]

It will depend on whether or not the politicians keep their noses out, but you're right.

---

Eve Muirhead's team representing Team GB have not qualified yet for the Olympics, thanks to a poor performance in the World Championships. However there is an Olympic Qualifying Event in The Netherlands in a couple of weeks time. There are 3 places to play for with 9 teams in the competition from Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Scotland and Turkey. Plenty of hope that she will qualify in the top3, but a few dangerous opponents in there too.