Switzerland knocks off Italy

Switzerland gave Italy its first defeat, Finland picked up three victories and Denmark remained winless at the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification tournament. 07 Nov 2012

A picture of a man and a woman in a wheelchair playing curling

Switzerland gave Italy its first defeat during the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification tournament.

ⒸLieven Coudenys

By IPC

“We’re now doing better – we’re in a better mental shape and using better tactics. I feel like now we can beat every team.”

Switzerland brought Italy’s unbeaten run at the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event to an end on Tuesday (6 November), defeating the Italians by a tight score of 6-5.

Switzerland, led by Eric Decorvet and Claudia Huttenmoser, followed up its victory over Italy with another win, this time beating Norway, 11-1, in seven ends in their afternoon game. However, it now stands at a 5-4 record at the event after losing to Germany, 6-4, in the evening session.

“This is still a very young team and they only had one international tournament in Kinross in October as practice before the qualification,” Swiss head coach Stephan Pfister told World Curling.

“We’re now doing better – we’re in a better mental shape and using better tactics. I feel like now we can beat every team.”

Finland kept up its impressive form, racking off another three straight victories. The host nation defeated the Czech Republic, 8-3, then Denmark, 11-1, and then slipped past Latvia, 8-7. It’s now atop the standings with Italy, as both have 7-1 marks at the event.

Germany also recorded three wins, including a massive 13-1 victory over Turkey, which is now just 1-7 at the tournament. Turkey also suffered a brutal loss to the Czech Republic later in the day on Tuesday, falling 13-3.

Denmark has yet to record a single victory at the event, as it has an 0-8 record.

Standings

Finland 7-1

Italy 7-1

Norway 6-3

Germany 5-3

Latvia 5-3

Switzerland 5-4

Czech Republic 4-4

Japan 4-4

Turkey 1-7

Poland 1-7