thurdl sports

FWWCC: Round Robin Recap

Somehow I had the order of yesterday's draw wrong, because the round robin came down to Canada playing Norway in the 17th and final draw. If Canada pulled out a win, then it would be the US, Sweden, Germany, and Canada going into the playoffs. If Norway pulled it off, then it would have been Canada, China, Denmark, and Norway playing for the fourth and final spot in the playoffs.

Well. Canada had a hell of a finisher, stealing the 10th end to force an 11th, then stealing that end to eliminate the rest of the field, and set the playoffs.

The US had little trouble advancing, though the US did have to fend off an early flurry of scoring by a Japanese team hungry for one last win before leaving Grande Prairie. It wasn't to be, though, as the US put up 5 points over the last three ends to turn a 7-7 tie into a 12-7 victory.

Sweden on the other hand got beat by an opportunistic Scottish team in the first draw yesterday. Whether they were just outplayed, or whether they weren't putting their best on the ice with advancement assured is hard to say. They did turn it right back around, though, and blew through the Swiss in the last draw of the Robin, beating them 10-2 in a game conceded after just 7 ends.

The rankings for the advancing teams look like this, then.
Sewden 10-1
United States 10-1
Germany 8-3
Canada 7-4

The Netherlands, unfortunately, went home winless, with their last game a 10-3 loss to the Americans. The Netherlander team did hold strong, and it was tied 2-2 after 6 end, but things just fell apart as the US put up three scoring ends after that, including a three point steal in the 10th. Always a shame to see a team walk away from a tournament like this without at least one victory under their belts.

The Chinese team that put on such a surprising showing ended up just one game out of the playoffs with a 6-5 record after beating Italy but failing to pull it off against Germany, a win that would have forced a three-team tiebreaker for the last two spots in the playoff.

The ice will be quiet today, since this is when tiebreakers would be happening. It will resume Saturday with the US and Sweden facing off on one sheet, and Germany/Canada on the other. (Yeah, that's not a typo, the semifinals are seeded as 1v2, 3v4.)

posted by thurdl @ 8:49 AM