Mixed Doubles - Day 6 Update

St Paul, USA
April 22, 2011

Mixed Doubles Semifinals
Sweden v Russia
Switzerland v France

Semifinals – take place on Saturday morning (09:00 local)
Medal Games – Gold & Bronze – Saturday afternoon (14:00 local)

Mixed Doubles Quarterfinals results:
GAME 1 – Sweden 9, China 3
GAME 2 – Switzerland 10, Denmark 9
GAME 3 – France 8, USA 6
GAME 4 – Japan 5, Russia 8

Mixed Doubles Blue Group
1. Switzerland 7-0 (qualified for quarterfinals)
2. Russia 5-2 (qualified for quarterfinals)
3. Denmark 5-3 (qualified for quarterfinals)
4. Canada 5-4
5. Slovakia 4-4
6. Norway 2-5
7. England 1-6
8. Italy 1-6

Switzerland and Russia are through to the quarterfinals. Canada beat Slovakia in their tiebreaker. Denmark beat Canada in a further tiebreaker. Denmark is the third ranked team in the blue group. On draw shot challenge, Denmark qualifies for the quarterfinals as best placed of the three third-placed Teams in each group.

Mixed Doubles Red Group
1. Sweden 6-1 (qualified for quarterfinals)
2. Japan 5-2 (qualified for quarterfinals)
3. Finland 5-4 (lost qualification game)
4. Hungary 4-4
5. Australia 3-4
6. New Zealand 3-4
7. Estonia 2-5
8. Korea 1-6

Sweden and Japan are through to the quarterfinals.

Mixed Doubles White Group
1. France 6-1 (qualified for quarterfinals)
2. USA 5-2 (qualified for quarterfinals)
3. China 6-2 (won qualification game against Finland)
4. Spain 4-3
5. Czech Republic 4-3
6. Scotland 3-4
7. Austria 1-6
8. Latvia 0-7
France, USA and China are through to the quarterfinals.

About the Quarterfinals:
At the end of the round-robin series, and any tiebreaker games (if required), there will be a clear ranking for 1st, 2nd and 3rd position in each group.
- The 1st and 2nd ranked Teams qualify for the quarterfinals on Friday evening (20:00 local)
- The 3rd ranked team with the best Draw Shot Challenge (DSC) result also qualifies
- The other two 3rd ranked Teams play a qualification game (Friday at 15:00 local) for the last quarterfinal spot.

QUARTERFINALS:
GAME 1 – Sweden v China
GAME 2 – Switzerland v Denmark
GAME 3 – France v USA
GAME 4 – Japan v Russia

Semifinals – take place on Saturday morning (09:00 local)
Medal Games – Gold & Bronze – Saturday afternoon (14:00 local)

Flash Quotes from Players on Day 6

Katja Kiiskinen, Team Finland after their red group tiebreaker against Hungary which they won 9-8 in an extra end: “Against Hungary we had a first game that went to an extra end as well. I think it could be a fun hobby to just play against these guys because it’s always really, really tight. So it was an enjoyable game. We really messed up in the 5th. Our stone was so locked in there. If we just hadn’t played our three last stones and messed it up we probably would have stolen so we were a little bit disappointed about that because the game could have gone for us in that end.”

In the extra end, Finland had a stone buried in the four-foot behind a center guard. Hungary’s Ildiko Szekeres was able to position her final stone in the opposite side of the four-foot. Neither side could confirm with certainty which stone was shot so Finland had to throw their final stone. Katja Kiiskinen gave the potential Finnish shot stone a whisker of a nudge but it was still not clear who the winner was until after a measurement, which went in favour of Finland.

Gyorgy Nagy, Team Hungary : “It was a good game. In the beginning we did not play very well, but then we equalized it and through the last stone we were hoping. Even during the measure we were hoping that maybe we could win. They were a tough opponent, and I hope they will be lucky in the next game.”

Are Solberg, Team Denmark, on beating Canada 6-4 in the blue group tiebreaker: “It’s great. It’s the greatest feeling in fact to beat Canada in a tiebreaker. But now we must look to getting to the quarterfinal. We’ll take it from there. It’s going to be fun! It was a good game. But I think we were a little bit nervous but there was some some hiccups that made us get all the points we needed.”

Robert Campbell, Team Canada after their defeat by Denmark 6-4 in the blue group tiebreaker: “we put ourselves in the hole by losing three in a row in the middle of the week. We knew it was an uphill battle. We tried our best. This morning we played well [they beat Slovakia in the first blue group tiebreaker 7-4] and this afternoon we just didn’t quite have it. Denmark – I have to give credit to them – they made some good shots - a couple of hit and rolls and a couple of draw taps - and we just couldn’t capitalise on our chances.”

Asked what he will take away from this championship: “It’s been a learning thing, especially from Canada when you are playing two on two. We tried to pick it up as we went this week. Communication is a big thing, sweeping is a big thing. I’d love to come back and play better than I did. Personally, I didn’t perform as well as I’d like to. There’s part of me that would like to come back and prove I could be a better curler than I was this week but I’m not getting any younger though!” [He is 44].

Draw Shot Challenge MIXED DOUBLES Red Blue White (PDF 262Kb)