For gold with Italy.
We know the Italians well, and their coaches. Italy is at a similar level to us, which should be good news for us. Italy is a traditional curling country with several championship medals, host of the 2006 Olympic tournament and the 2003 and 2007 Universiade tournaments. Our men faced Italy in a tie-break here in Esbjerg to stay in the A-team and lost. It was in the extra end. Today's women's match against Italy also went to extra time. A three-pointer in the tenth end got us there. But we never found an answer to the stone played by Federica, the younger of the Apolloni sisters. Among other things, the Czechs' narrow loss means that the much-discussed qualification for the Czech national team for the World Championships will not take place at all, simply because neither the men nor the women are going anywhere. The B group was won by the Italians and they were indeed a bit better, albeit only by a hair. In second place, which secures for the Czech Republic Group A of the European Championships for next year, are our young ladies: Anna Kubešková - a reliable and creative skip, Terka Pliskova - troubleshooter and hardworking scorer, Klara Svatoňová - a wonderful point guard and heartthrob, Bětka Baudyšová - a meticulous three and a vigilant viceskip and finally Ežen Kolčevská - a talented and dedicated team sun. They are to be commended for the effort they put in and the result they achieved. I am happy to work with such athletes and people.
rnTomorrow, then, it's just finals and matches for the world. In the latter, the Italians and Danes are closer to success. We Czechs have to get to work to make sure we don't miss out on the curling world again.