The Latvian men’s curling team suffered a major failure in the semi-finals of Division B of the European Championship on Friday, which prevented them from qualifying for Division A, reports the Latvian Curling Association (LKA).
In the semi-final of division B, the Latvian curlers recognized the superiority of the Netherlands with 1:13. The opponents have already managed to get 12 points in the first four ends, and just before the break Latvia managed to get the first point, which also turned out to be the only point in this match. The Dutch went on to get another point with a convincing win. In the final match on Saturday, the Latvian curlers will face France, who lost to Finland 3:6 in the second semi-final, in the fight for the bronze medals.
It has already been reported that in the group Latvia defeated the teams of Portugal and Holland (10:8 and 7:6), on Sunday they recognized the superiority of the French with 4:6 in extra time, on Monday they beat Hungary with 12: 5, on Tuesday they beat Belgium with 9:2, and on Wednesday – with 12:7 Austria, losing to Slovenia 5:8 on Thursday. Latvia beat Wales 12:8 in the semi-final on Friday.
With five wins in seven matches, the Latvian national team took third place in their group. The top three teams in each group qualified for the play-offs. The first-place winners of both groups automatically entered the semi-finals, but the other teams in a match, when the second-place team from one group met the third-placed team from the other group, determined the other two semi-finalists.
Both finalists will secure the right for their country to compete in division A of next year’s European Championship.
Latvia men’s national team: Mārtiņš Trukšāns (jump), Jānis Klīve, Arnis Veidemanis, Sandris Buholcs, Aivars Avotiņš and coach Kārlis Smilga.
