Unbeaten Scotland retain their place at top of the table

18 November 2024

With two more wins in Monday’s play, defending champions Scotland have now moved into a clear lead at the top of the men’s rankings, undefeated on five wins and no losses.

In their early game, the Scots faced Switzerland in a top-of-the-table clash, and the lead changed hands throughout this game. Eventually, with the score tied at 6-6, the teams were forced to play an extra end. Switzerland’s fourth player Benoit Schwarz-van Berkel attempted a raised double take-out with the last stone but was just too tight on the first target stone, handing the Scots a steal of one point and a 7-6 win. In their evening game, the Scots cruised to a six-end 10-2 win over Austria, who are still looking for their first win.

Behind the Scots, Germany share second place with Italy.

The Germans beat Sweden by 6-5 in an extra end in their morning game, and afterwards skip Marc Muskatewitz said, “That was a tough battle. We’ve had many tough games with them and that’s the first time in ten years that I’ve beaten Niklas Edin.” Germany then went on to beat Switzerland by 9-3.

Italy beat a strong Austria by 6-4 in their early game before defeating Netherlands by 11-6 in the evening session.

In their early game, Norway played an England team still looking for their first win. By the ninth end, Norway had built a 7-4 lead when their skip Magnus Ramsfjell played a draw-shot into position to score two points and win the game by 9-4. After this game, skip Ramsfjell said, “We’ve had some good wins and we’re playing well. We have a couple of tough games coming up, so we need to win at least one of them to stay in it. You can’t afford more than three losses here, but hopefully we’ll make it to the play-offs. I’d say we’re playing well enough to do that.” 

However, they suffered a set-back later when they went down to Sweden by 8-9. This was a tight game, and the teams were level at 8-8 in the tenth end. Sweden’s skip Niklas Edin then scored one more point with a gentle tap to win the game by 9-8 and move onto a shared fourth place with Norway and Switzerland.

At the end of the third day’s play, Austria and England are at the foot of the table, still looking for a first win.

Women’s action

The women also played two games on this third day of action. Defending champions Switzerland and Sweden share top spot, undefeated on five wins and no losses, while Lithuania remain on the search for their first win.

Switzerland played Italy in the morning session in what was a tight game. In the ninth end, Switzerland led by 6-5 when their fourth Alina Paetz made a mistake on a double take-out attempt to give Italy a steal of one point and level the game at 6-6. However, the Swiss redeemed themselves and went on to win by 7-6. 

The Swiss then played Lithuania in their second game of the day. In this game, Lithuania stayed right on their opponents’ heels and were just one point behind, with the score being 5-4 to the Swiss in the eighth end. However, in that end, Alina Paetz was able to play a hit and score three points to improve Switzerland’s lead to 8-4. Lithuania fought back but it was not enough, and Switzerland won by 8-7 to keep their unbeaten record intact.

Earlier, the Lithuanians had lost by 5-8 to Sweden. The Swedes then had a second win against Denmark. They boasted a 6-3 lead by the ninth end, but Danish skip Madeleine Dupont fought back with a well-judged raised hit to reduce the Swedish lead to 6-5. Sweden skip Anna Hasselborg scored the final point of the game with a confident draw-shot in the tenth to end the game 7-5. There were no doubts about the final shot as Hasselborg said after the game, “I had good draw weight through the whole game, so I was pretty confident about making that last draw.”

Italy bounced back from their morning loss to Switzerland when they faced Norway in their afternoon game. This game was tight all the way through to the ninth end, with the score level on 6-6. The decisive tenth end went the way of the Italians when skip Stefania Constantini played a draw inside some Norwegian stones to claim a vital point and victory by 7-6. After the game Constantini said, “That was an interesting game. I just had to focus on the last shot and that was a draw, but I found the perfect weight. That was an important game. We lost to Switzerland but we’re sitting in a good position.”

Scotland were able to bounce back from a loss to Türkiye in their first game with a dominant display against Hungary. They built a 7-2 lead by the sixth end, only to increase their lead to 9-3 in the seventh, when the Hungarians eventually conceded. After the game Scottish skip Sophie Jackson said, “That was a tough loss against Türkiye earlier, so it was important for us to bounce back, which we feel we did.”

The afternoon game between Türkiye and Estonia was close, with the score tied at 3-3 going into the sixth end. A failed double raise attempt by Estonia’s fourth player Erika Tuvike gave the Turks the chance to steal a point and take the 4-3 lead. They extended their lead in the tenth, finishing 5-4 ahead. Türkiye now sit in a clear fourth place in the rankings and skip Dilsat Yildiz said after the game, “That was very important today. We’ve won twice today and that’s very good. We’re hoping to reach the play-offs now and we’ve got another important game tomorrow against Denmark.”

B-Division

After three days of play in the women’s B-Division, Czechia and Germany share the lead on four wins and no losses. Czechia beat Ukraine by 10-1 in their only game on Monday, while Germany defeated Austria by 6-3.

In the men’s B-Division, Spain and Ukraine are still undefeated on three wins at the top of Group A, while Denmark, on four wins and no losses are clear leaders in Group B, thanks to a 9-7 win over Finland.

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