Champion again. How many times now?

The long, unbroken streak of domestic titles won by the women’s curling team—which has dominated this category without a hitch for more than a decade—continues. However, this year’s victory for the Liboc team led by Anna Kubešková was not without complications and unexpected twists. First and foremost, the starting lineup underwent changes very early on, due to health reasons. Gradually, during the regular season, two players—including the skip—dropped out, and along with them, the team’s coach had to give up coaching as well, ending up in the inpatient ward of a rehabilitation clinic with acute lower back pain. After the double regular season, the team finished in second place and thus had to fight for a spot in the finals by winning the semifinals. Standing in their way was the Savona team (skip Synáčková). The evenly matched duel was decided in the ninth end, with a five-point gain and the resulting decisive lead. In the final, the remnants of the original Sokol Liboc team faced the young quartet Dion XX (skip Farková), featuring recent Olympian Julie Zelingrová playing the last stones. Both teams’ hopes of winning the cup were evenly matched. For the playoff round, the winning lineup of the eventual champions settled as follows: Aneta Műllernová, Alžběta Zelingrová, Anna Kubešková (skip), and Michaela Baudyšová. The Dionky won the first final match, capitalizing on more complex situations, thanks in part to inaccuracies in the Sokolky from Liboc’s deliveries. However, Liboc won the remaining two matches, thereby earning the right to represent the country at the upcoming European Championship, which will take place this year at the end of October at the Torax Arena in Ostrava. All in all, the national competitions are over; Czech curling knows its champions in all categories. The overall system of the national championship deserves a review, as does the schedule. Although we had two out of three curling categories represented at the Olympic Games, a sense of stagnation—particularly among young Czech curling teams—remains. Kryštof Žďárský photographed the entire domestic competition, and his photos in the gallery perfectly capture the atmosphere on the ice.

Meanwhile, the Czech men’s team is striving for the best possible results at the World Championships in Ogden, USA. Their record so far is two wins (Poland, Norway) and four losses (China, Germany, Korea, Switzerland). The match against the U.S. is currently underway, so good luck.