WORLD MIXED DOUBLES CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 – FROM THE PLAYERS:

Tuesday 20 April

Kristiine Lill, Team Estonia (playing with Martin Lill)
Speaking after their game against Spain which they won 7-5:
“The game was very very tough but it was a more positive feeling for us than in the morning [when they lost to Italy 11-9] I’m happy that we won it. The Spanish played well. But we managed to do some very decisive draws I think. Towards the end they made it difficult for us, so we were afraid we might face an extra end. But fortunately we succeeded.”

John Sharp, Team England (playing with Jane Clark)
Speaking after winning their game against Finland (10-9). John is also playing in the English Men’s Seniors team. On Tuesday afternoon he came straight off the ice from the Seniors game against Australia and went onto another sheet to play the Mixed Doubles game against Finland: “It was very strange because the ice was very different. I thought that playing the one game on one sheet and moving on to the next game on another sheet would be ok. But the ice was completely different so it took a little bit of time to adjust. But we coped and we got a win.”

On how he is coping playing two championships at once:
“It’s manageable because they are two separate games. You could do perhaps with a little extra time between the games to get your head switched on to the mixed doubles format. But it is very manageable.”

Asked which game he prefers – ‘Traditional’ Curling or Mixed Doubles:
“I really enjoy Mixed Doubles. I think it’s a great format because it’s much more complex. There’s a bit more thinking involved. It’s not a straight striking game. So there’s little tap-up shots, draw shots a lot more thinking about angles I think than the other game.”

Martin Uhd Gronbech, Team Denmark (playing with Christine Svensen):
Speaking after their game against the Czech Republic which they won 9-8:
“It was a very even game. In some ends they were a lot better than us and we just scraped through, minimising our losses. Then in a couple of ends we played better than them. In the last two ends my partner played incredibly. The second half of the game was quite poor for me, but she was fantastic!”

“I feel sorry for the Czechs because they played a very good game and they can feel that in many instances they are better than us.”

“After our last game against Austria [which Denmark lost 11-9] we really had to fight to get back into the tournament. So now we can decide for ourselves and we don’t have to rely on other teams’ results.”

Karel Kubeska, Team Czech Republic (playing with Anna Kubeskova)
Speaking after the game against Denmark – which was their first game of the Championship so far:
“What has been really frustrating is the waiting day after day after day for the first game. So that was really bad and I think we felt a little bit nervous at the beginning after having had a lot of practices and then waiting for the first game, especially when we know that there are just four games in our group. So every game is very very important. Every shot is essential.”

“We started in not very good shape, after three ends we were three points down. Then we came back. And the last rock of the game was not an easy double. It was difficult to play it on this ice because it has five feet swing and it’s not easy to do difficult takeout shots without sweepers.”

Ansis Regza, Team Latvia (playing with Dace Regza):
Speaking after their first game against China which they lost 4-9. Team Latvia arrived in Chelyabinsk overnight: “We are still dreaming, because a few hours in our bed was not enough ahead of our first game. We played very poorly. We arrived at 1am and I could not sleep due to the time difference between Latvia and Chelyabinsk”

Speaking about their journey to Chelyabinsk:
“It’s a long story. We waited in Riga for 3 days, but there were no planes. We wait, wait wait and thank you to the World Curling Federation and organising committee for waiting for us. We took a train – 16 and a half hours to Moscow, then four and half hours by taxi from the train station to Sheremetyevo the airport in Moscow. Then several hours in the airport, two hours by plane to Yekaterinburg, then three hours by car with the organising committee to here.”

Irantzu Garcia, Team Spain (playing with Sergio Vez)
The Spanish team is the youngest team at the Mixed Doubles Championships. Sergio is 15 and Irantzu 17. Speaking after they won their third game in a row – 7-6 against Hungary: “I can’t believe it right now. We didn’t expect to win three games. Right now we have a half foot in the quarterfinals – it’s amazing. It was really close game. They did really good stones and it was a hard one to win.”

Yana Nekrasova, Team Russia (playing with Petr Dron)
Speaking after beating the USA 7-3
“We played better than yesterday especially in the second half of the game and we made fewer mistakes. China and the USA were very serious opponents. But the key thing is who makes fewer mistakes. This is what the game is about.”

“We like the ice a lot. The organisation of the event is good. The only disadvantage is that not all of our opponents have managed to make it here.”

WORLD CENIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 – FROM THE PLAYERS:

Tuesday 20 April

Bruce Delaney, Team Canada (Men) – Skip:
Speaking after beating Sweden 6-5:
“They are a very good team. We knew that coming into this championship that they would be right up at the top in our pool. So we knew we had to play well.”

“A three in the 5th end of an eight end game is obviously a big turning point. You still have to defend it. It got a little ugly near the end, but we were able to prevail.”

Karl Nordlund, Team Sweden (Men) – Skip:
Speaking after the game against Canada:
“We made too many mistakes and then they made some really good shots. They took a three and then we had to really fight. We had some chances but it didn’t work out really. We had a chance even with the last stone, but it didn’t curl enough. It was a bit tricky on some parts of the ice. Sometimes they were not curling and sometimes they were curling too much.”

Susanne Carrera, Team Italy (Women) – Skip:
Speaking after beating the USA 7-6.
“The key moment was the last stone in the last end because we made three and won the game, if we had made two we would have gone to an extra end.”

“It’s obvious from the way they play that the American women’s seniors have been playing together as a team for some time. Curling is new in Italy and we’ve only been playing together for about three years. It takes time to become a real team.”

Betty Kozai, Team USA (Women) – Lead (calling the game):
At 81 years old, Betty, from Seattle in Washington State, is the oldest woman playing in the Women’s Senior Championship. She has been curling for over 30 years. This is her first appearance at a Women’s Senior event. She played at the Women’s World Championships in Perth Scotland in 1980 with her daughter, Sharon Vukich, who’s also competing in both the Senior and Mixed Doubles events in Chelyabinsk.

Speaking after the game against Italy, Betty said:
“It was a good game today. We went back and forth. We were trying to study the ice so we would know what weights to throw but we didn’t exactly get our weights together. However, it was coming along, it was a good game and good challenge. As we go into the competition a lot more we’ll be more accustomed to the ice situation.”

Her tips for a healthy life:
“You need to eat properly and you need to take all your vitamin supplements and then you can curl forever...!”