The last third of the Round Robin is underway.
It's getting hot in Lohja. I don't have a thermometer, but my guess is a few degrees below zero. That doesn't stop the apple trees from offering apples to be picked right off the tree - see photo. The night from yesterday to today was once again marked by stone dressing. After the lacklustre effect that may or may not have occurred just three days ago, it was back to "running surface" maintenance. This morning we went to see if the characteristics of the stones had changed and this time indeed, apart from a slight slowdown, the swing had gained about one foot. The men took better advantage of this than the Norwegians (Ramsfjell) and beat the northerners in the morning match. The women had the Swiss (Huerlimann) against them from 14:00 local time. The Czechs took a 4 : 2 lead and their gameplay promised a first win. Mistakes in the seventh end offered the Swiss women more points, namely three, and in the rest of the match the Czechs could not find the strength to reverse the course. The Czech women are still waiting for their first win. This time the electronic handles did not fail. We are very happy that finally, after years, the independent control of the rule about releasing the stone before the hog-line is thrown is back. We were just wondering if there might already be technologies that can handle this type of control without the cumbersomeness, hassle and interference with the flow of the game. The Czechs are currently playing the Poles on the second lane and after five ends they are closer to victory.