The final eight teams are confirmed for the European Curling Championships in Finland
As the Canadian Olympic Trials drama unfolds in Halifax, the European Championships are into the weekend playoffs in Lohja, Finland.
In women’s A-Division fours play, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg is the cream of the crop with an 8-1 won/loss record in the round robin, her sole misfire coming in the opening draw – by a 10-5 count – against Swiss newcomer Corrie Huerlimann.
The Swiss – their skip is the younger sister of Briar Hürlimann – are next in line at 6-3, while Scotland’s Rebecca Morrison and Norway’s Marianne Roervik lurched into the playoffs with 5-4 records.
Morrison overcame a horror start against Türkiye – falling 9-0 in the opening draw – and a 1-3 start overall to string together three straight closing round robin wins.
Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont and Türkiye’s Dilsat Yildiz also finished 5-4 but out of the playoff picture.
Italy’s Stefania Constantini, whose hometown of Cortina d’Ampezzo will host curling at the Olympic Winter Games in February, finished 4-5.
In Thursday night’s semifinals, Sweden will meet Norway while Switzerland challenges Scotland.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat continue their men’s fours dominance with a spotless 9-0 won/loss mark in the A-Division, after beating Italy’s Joel Retornaz 8-5 in the final round robin draw.
The Italians (6-3) and Switzerland (Yannick Schwaller, 7-2) had already qualified for the playoffs prior to the round robin finale.
Sweden’s defending Olympic champion Niklas Edin won his last match 7-5 over Austria, while Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz edged surprising Poland by an 6-5 count. With both Sweden and Germany finishing at 6-3, the Draw Shot Challenge (DSC) rankings gave Sweden the final playoff berth.
In Friday morning’s semifinal draw, Scotland will battle Sweden while Switzerland takes on Italy.
Konrad Stych finished 3-6 in Poland’s first-ever European A-Division play, good enough to qualify Poland for their first appearance at the world men’s curling championship at Ogden, Utah, Mar. 28 to Apr. 5.
Magnus Ramsfjell’s Norwegian squad struggled, finishing with a 2-7 record.