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The Finks didn't help, the Russians did.

Czech men - J. Snítil, Klíma, M. Snítil, Kitzbergr, Mokris

rn

The theoretical chance that our women had to advance to the Olympic Qualification Tournament vanished after a dull performance by the Finnish women in their match against Denmark. Madeleine Dupont offered several good opportunities, but Oona Kauste generously turned them down and after eight ends shook hands with the victorious Danes, who thus qualified for the superstructure from third place. At 13.30 the men's round started, where the Czechs were favourites against the young Dutch. After several Czech stones that did not reach the right places, Van Dorp had two options. He chose the more aggressive one, after which he would have four of his stones in a very good position in the circles. His attempt failed, however, and instead opened the way for J. Snitil to finish on deuce. The Dutch then gradually leveled the score at 2 : 2, but it was more and more obvious that the Czechs were the better team. In the ninth end we played for one and led by four points. After a brief hesitation, Van Dorp's team gave up the rest of the match and the first consecutive goal was accomplished. However, the Czech team had no direct influence on the second and had to wait. On lane number four, where China and Russia were playing, a minor technical collision occurred early in the match that delayed the progress for almost thirty minutes. The Czechs were therefore able to watch the end of the match from the spectator positions, in which the Chinese favourites finally resisted the pressure of responsibility and cashed in a triple in the ninth end, from which they never recovered and succumbed to the Russians. The correct Czech crowd in the Kosutka hall applauded enthusiastically, because this means that the Czech men's team will play for participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics on Sunday afternoon. The Czech women took the first non-advancing place at the OQE. They left a very good impression. It is a pity about the unfinished game against China and the loss against Germany. On the other hand, the match against Italy was a thrilling sporting spectacle, won by the lucky team from the south of Europe. May Czech curling do well in its future battles.