The 2015 Men's World Championship (Halifax) ended with a Swedish triumph.
Thanks to YouTube, we've been able to watch the world's best curling online, or almost online, for the past four weeks. Also, CT has capitalized on the negotiations that were held at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi with the World Curling Federation to purchase two broadcasts of the men's World Championships with the participation of the Czech team. In short, a feast for us all. The Women's World Championships in Sapporo - unfortunately without Czech participation - brought a somewhat unexpected win for the Swiss. Alina Patzova, with her coach at her back, was not one of the hot favourites, especially when Canada was represented by a team of Olympic gold medallists (J. Jones). In the final match itself, the Swiss played much better than their more famous rivals, yet Patz played the last draw against a losing team and only had about 2 feet to spare. However, the serve, release and throwing was of such a standard that the young Swiss team could celebrate their triumph. The younger teams are asserting themselves and that is good for curling. The men's championship was made more interesting by the participation of the Czechs. A total of four wins (Finland, Japan, Scotland and Russia) against seven defeats is a decent balance and ninth place out of twelve teams corresponds to the reality of today. Both televised games (CT4) showed the Czechs' fighting spirit and commitment, but also imperfect ice reading and communication errors. The game against China was decided by a penalty and even the best efforts to come back did not help. In the game against Norway our players could not keep up with the very good Norwegians and completely fell off at the end. The off-television compensation for the two defeats was the traditional victory over the Scots (D. Murdoch was in the team). Brno curlers have long been among the European top and are unquestionably the best that Czech curling can offer on a world scale. This is mainly thanks to the experience gained at many European and World Championships, as well as at international CCT tournaments. However, world curling is again one step ahead of us. Technically, tactically, communication-wise and otherwise. Top three teams: Sweden, Norway, Canada prove that systematic hard work bears fruit. Precise defending, creative offensive concepts, excellent throwing along with effective communication - these are the main attributes that are typical of the top teams. Functioning implementation teams, quality coaches and more than just serviceable fifth players - these are the commonplaces that complete the circumstances needed to achieve good results. The team from Finland, playing in Group B just two years ago, surprised. A consistent performance and a likeable game display ensured the popularity of the crowd for the northerners. The Swedes proved to be the strongest team, beating all three opponents in the extra time. Their great fitness, confidence and timing of form over the ten-day tournament was impeccable. Probably good work by the duo Lindholm, Lindberg. Curling has moved on a little bit again. Let's hope we can do it too.
