Two close games in a row. Russia and Italy.
Early games bring with them early risers. And it's not a popular discipline. Good thing we're not alone in this. The Russians (Sidorova) came out with their usual lineup and got the advantage of the last tribe in practice. The start of the match was more for them, including a three in the third end. But we were slow to wake up until we were one down with the advantage after seven ends. But the eighth end didn't work out. We got a second three, and this time we even had the advantage. The Russians played great and we made mistakes. In the ninth, we made it two, but it wasn't enough to come back. We lost 7 to 9. The second game, at 14.00 local time, pitted us against the Italians. One of the most experienced skip in the tournament in terms of number of championships played, Diana Gaspari, punished our inaccuracies in the fifth end with a nice five. The girls then made an admirable drive back, towards an even result, but the Italians resisted, thanks to Diana's excellent draw, and then to the fact that they managed to eliminate our guards in the last end and play an open game. Two losses today make today the least successful day of this championship so far. The schedule is pretty packed. We played four games (about 40 ends) in 27 hours. We swept about 6 km of track and removed (including practice) about two and a half tons of stones. A remarkable feat for fine, slender and subtle women. Tomorrow we have another early morning double match and a new challenge.
rnphoto - the team without contact with solid ground, but on the square in front of the Forbidden City