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WCT - Basel 2019, men.

One of the traditional tournaments, divided into two parts according to gender, is held annually in October in Basel, Switzerland. I'm often there with the girls in a coaching capacity, but this year I've added a men's competition in an active, player-based format. We have a new curler on the team - Ondra Hálek, so it was a good idea to try out the interplay at one of the top European tournaments before the start of the domestic competition. A few days before the start, we learned that we would be starting against two-time Olympic medalists, Team Edin. Not that our legs were outright shaken, but we did make a few mistakes stemming from respect and the Swedes took a decisive lead midway through the match. The second game put us in the way of our Czech opponent (Kolibris 1). Eight men traveled many hundreds of miles to play a curling duel against each other to advance to the next round. An even match ended with Martin's draw, which we overswept just over the tee line and that was enough to lose the second match as well. None of the three Czech teams advanced to Sunday's playoffs. The Swiss, two Scottish teams and the Swedes eventually advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament. For the players from Libok, Basel 2019 was a good experience, and an interesting and inspiring experience that was just missing a win. Photo from left: Martin, Karel, David, Ondra