Italy won the B Division final, by beating Latvia. Here is the victorious squad after the game. Now they challenge France for a place in the World Championship in Regina.
Joel Retornaz and his team were down 6-1 to the Latvians, and came back to win in an extra end. A good example of 'never give up'!
Here are the two skips, Jel Retornaz and Ritvars Gulbis.
Here are the four trying to regroup between ends as their lead evaporated! My friends will have nightmares about this game in the months ahead. Nothing went right as they tried to defend their lead. A couple of missed shots ........Still, they did well to get to the B Final and a Latvian men's team will be in the A Division at the next European Championships in Moscow.
Close to the ice, I could see the strain on Ritvars face!
Here is the victorious Czech squad immediately after their game. B Gold medallists!
What a final it was. Look at the scoreboard in the back of this pic. The Italians stole a three in the fifth! This is their skip, Giorgia Apollonio.
Skips in the house
The Czech team changed their third player at the fifth end break, and fought on.
I thought Anna Kubeskova called a good game after the wakeup call.
Things were not looking good in the seventh end when Apollonio called a timeout with their coach Dan Rafael (formerly coach to the Bingyu Wang team of China). Whatever was suggested didn't matter, as a couple of misses later, the Italians gave up a six! The writing was on the wall thereafter!
The Italian skip, Giorgio Apollonio.You can find all the results from the B Division here.
Photos © Skip Cottage