31.08.2019,
2019 Oakville Classic Tournament.
On August 30th, we enter the Oakville Curling Tournament with a match against the Swiss team Stern. But first we have to get to the arena, which we manage to do in the very heavy Toronto traffic. The parking lot in front of the arena is full, so we have to find a spot by the tennis courts. The weather is beautiful, the sun is smiling down on us and there is a nice breeze from the nearby lake. On eight lanes with unusually decorated finish rings, rounds of the women's and men's tournaments are already being played. Ežen and I are preparing a communication device for listening to the players on the ice. I saw it with the Scots years ago and thought it was a good idea. The idea is to have the players' communication during the game available in the headset so that it can be analysed afterwards, in retrospect, what led to important, wrong or surprising game situations. For the first match, Petra, Míša, Bětka and Anna are playing. An even course with several difficult situations culminates in the last end with an equal situation with our advantage. With the first stone of our skip we use the opponent's center guard to capture the full center. The daughter of 1998 Olympic champion Patrik Hurlimann, who throws the last stones for Team Stern, is unable to respond and we have our first win in our group. On the way back, we buy grilled chicken for dinner. And a kettle and a big pot, completing the austere equipment of the spacious kitchen of our temporary home. In the evening, we analyze the match and quickly go to Hajan (maybe hajan). In the morning we get up before six.rnrnphoto: team meeting during the eighth end