Czech Republic - Russia, 14,00 local time. 23,00 in Czech Republic.

A decent opening from both sides, but offensive hell in the second end. The Russian with the advantage, however, played only one, even though he was there ready first for three and then, after a failed skip stone (Drozdov) for two. In the third end Stukalski and after that Drozdov didn't play their stones well and after an inside-out throw to the tee we recorded a four! In the fourth end the Russian has two in the ring, but we can play a double. Jirka only hits one and Rus hesitates. Drozdov plays a hit and roll to split the house, but rolls the other way and we have a double there again. Perfectly hit! Rus is going to have a tough clearing. But he gives it, albeit narrowly. So the status remains the same. 4 to 1. The fifth end is pretty boring so far. Halfway through the end, we have two kemens in circles, no guards in play. The Russian wants a deuce at all costs, so he goes for the two stones that are on the five right next to each other, about a meter from the center line. Pretty decent, but Martin runbacks the red stone and we have three tribes in the circles. The Russian is persistent and tries again. Not much, and we're down to four. Three more Russians to go. Stukalski slides two of ours out, but the red stays open. Jirka tries a little roll. It turned out great after two rocks made contact. We have one on the top four, and then two more in the back. The Russian is going to roll to those two. Just a little roll. We hit and stay, and Rus ends up hitting. It's one for them and it's 4-2 and we have the advantage. PAUSE.

The sixth end is zero. In the seventh we have weaker spacing, so there are two of our stones in front of the circle and one Russian stone behind in the circles. How can this happen with a defensive approach? The Russian adds another one, but it's half visible, so we try to take it and the other one at the same time. Here comes Martin. He only hits one and this time Stukalski plays guard. We're gonna try a double guard and stone in the ring. Only one to go again. And another guard, this time made in Drozdov. The distance is about five meters, plus the risk of getting tangled up. Guys confer. We've got a draw. Come around. We're a little longer, so back four, but mainly second. Drozdov wanted a top four, but it's a freeze to our back four. The Russian has two and Jirka has to tee off. There it is! 5-2 after seven ends. Ninth: Dron plays guard, we chip. FGZ and the stone returns. Dron places the second - quality Russian quarterbacking. We change the plan and play come around. Jindra's stone goes to about five. The Russian plays from the other side and is a little shorter. We clear, Rus regains guard. We try double guards, but it doesn't quite work. Still two guards and one red in front right, clear. Stukalski and his come around - not bad at all. Clear the guard and we're about to do it again. We wanted to double-slash, but it's just a single and we've closed one side for a possible draw. Hopefully we won't need it. Russian's guard rolls over and we have a chance to hit and roll. It's an inurn and the roll should be off center. But Jirka is clanking the guard and Drozdov can sink us with his last stone. The red stone goes into the ring, but we have an open hit and stay at one. A successful execution means one of ours and we go into the last endgame up two with no advantage. Tenth: Our first stones are a little deeper than they should be. The Russian has two corner guards and we miss the first clearing. After the Russian tap back, one of ours is on the tee, the Russian is on the edge behind the tee and we have to go for it. Russian plays a great come around and we take a time out. Daniel orders a clear, there was probably nothing else there anyway. We get a double, but I don't know if we wanted it. If we did - it was a risk. The Russian rejoins and Martin masterfully slides out red, leaving yellow. It's a terrible fight. Shtukalsky goes behind the other corner guard and Jirka has to follow him. It's with a little tap, but the positive is we have two better ones. The Russians are taking time out. I don't know what coach advised them, but the result is strange. We have two Russians behind the corner guard, but we have two better ones. Their double is there, but if we play well, the Russian will have nothing to play there. We decide to go to the red rocks, but we're clanking the guard. Stone happily finishes in a position where it's really tough for Drozdov. Slash doubles up with a really bad angle. But he's got it!! We're going to get an extra end to this nerve-wracking match. The Russian lineout is two guards, we give one come around and try one chip but it doesn't come out. In front of the tee there are yellow and red stones stuck on top of each other - our better one, one red guard on the side and now it's going to be about Russian centre guards and our clearins. Still the same song, the change will only happen on some stone skips. Here we go, but first we have a Russian time out. Drozdov goes for his first small tap, but it's really just a micro tap, so we're still better. Now we've got a time out. I see a double, because that pair of red stones is a little scary. That's it, and Jirka's playing 100%. Drozdov has to play a little tap back around the guard, but he tinkles and it's over. We have an important win!! The joy is well deserved, it took a bit more work than it looked halfway through the game, but it's all the more valuable.