Qualifying match for the semi-finals against Russia.
It's probably fair to say that we had an exciting evening watching other teams try to win their games. We, as a team, had already had a day off, and after deciding to let Anna rest for the match against Japan, and hoping that her condition would improve enough for her to start, we believed we were able to predict some of the results. China did beat Germany after a struggle, bringing them within a win of us, but they needed the Russians, not the Americans, in the party to advance to the DSC. But Jennifer Jones made good on her promise to us before the game and beat America, plus the Danes lost clearly to Russia, and that was it. The best result ever for the Czech curling team - fifth place at the World Championships!! Great advertisement of Czech curling in the world and we believe also at home. The system of the superstructure sent us to the battle with Russia, on Saturday at nine in the morning. It's relentless, the third wake up around 6am, after many tough matches, with the understanding that if we win we can play right at 2pm. The system is very strict and only the well-prepared can endure it. We have the red stones, Anna plays, Ezen is at number one and the opponent has the advantage. It's a very cautious start, then the Russians soften up and go for two and then go for one. We go into the break three down. Right after the break, we raise offensive hell and once again benefit from our overview in the circles. With two final accurate draws, we put the total at three and it's tied. But the Russians give us a deuce in the seventh end, and we're a little worse off in the eighth, getting another one. In the ninth end we have played nicely for two, but the last stone doesn't come out, it's the opponent's one again and it can't be reversed. It's the Russians in the semis. They were a little bit better, but they were also lucky in some moments and the centimeters were decisive. See photo.
rnWe are sad for a while, but the huge ovation from several thousand spectators reminds us that we are the fifth best team in the world, and that's more than we could have reasonably expected. Vic Rauter and Russ Howard have been talking about us as a pleasant surprise in the championship and everyone has been very nice to us. We have some invitations for breakfast and lunch tomorrow and we also have some obligations to fulfill. In the meantime, the Swedes beat the Russians and are going to the final. Tonight Canada will try the same against the USA. The World Cup in Canada is a thought-provoking experience. It awakens in me the desire to share all that we have learned, unlearned, acquired here with our young players so that they know what they can achieve if they are active and can distinguish between the inspiring and the shallow. I hope the enthusiasm doesn't wear off as soon as I return home. Yeah, and you girls are just megastars and I'm proud of you. I think your popularity in Canada is greater than you can imagine.
rnphoto: this is how we cooked a three against the Russians (we're red), ranking, we like this, although the correct ranking is fifth, not sixth (we beat the US).
