Switzerland, for the second time an obstacle to direct advancement to the Olympics.
Photo: Z + T
rnIt's been a little more than 4 years since I got the news on the way back home from Victoria, Canada, that the Czech men had lost to Switzerland at the World Championships - I think it was Team Michel - and therefore we could "only" qualify for the Olympics through an additional qualifier. It was then the last Round Robin match and in the end, despite "two lives", we failed to qualify for the Olympics. It's tougher at the World Mixed Doubles. First, there are only eight spots to play for (7 plus Korea) and second, there is no additional qualification. The Czech pair Zuzana Hájková and Tomáš Paul made it to the top four pairs on the planet for the second time in their career, losing narrowly to Switzerland in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, this is not enough for the Czech Republic to qualify for the Olympics. Other major curling countries, such as Sweden, Scotland, Germany, Japan, and others, finished ahead of the gate. We are tenth overall in Olympic points (sorry, ninth, I'm still confused by Korea going to the Olympics but having fewer points), which is an excellent placing, but we are not satisfied because we came damn close to seeing Czech colors at the Olympics. I am not in the least diminishing the performance of our players with the previous comment. They made it through to the superstructure from a very tough group, beat a very strong Canada and made it to the bronze medal game. A great result, an outstanding performance - that describes the impression of our duo. Very good throwing, good guesses, smooth game management, working communication, these are the attributes that our national team will take back home (hopefully with a medal) and build on in preparation for another challenging season.