The Russian team wins Gold at World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2016 held at Karlstad, Sweden with a 7-5 victory over China. USA remained the third team on the podium after their 9-7 win over Scotland.
In the final today, China made a pressure draw to the button against three Russian stones to count for their first point, while in the second end Russia captured three points after tapping back a Chinese stone off of the button to take a 3-1 lead.
In the third end, China doubled their score with a single point after a failed attempt at a re-directed takeout for two points. Russia capitalized on their draw for two points in the fourth end, giving them a 5-2 lead at the fourth end break.
With another pressure draw to the four-foot against two stones, China made no mistake and grabbed their single point in the fifth end to make the score 5-3. In the sixth end, China made a double takeout and forced Russia to play a takeout for one point. China responded back with a double takeout of their own to score two points and go into the final end down by one point.
Russia was successful on their final draw to the four-foot to out-count China’s stone, which allowed them to capture the Gold medals and the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship title.
In the Bronze Medal Game, USA defeated Scotland 9-7 to secure themselves ten Olympic points. USA had control of the game early, with a 7-3 lead after four ends. Scotland fought back scoring three points in the fifth end, followed by a steal of one point in the sixth end when USA were heavy on their draw to the eight-foot, which leveled the score at 7-7.
USA made a draw to the button to score one point, and enter the final end with a one-point advantage. In that last end, Scotland had a takeout into a cluttered four-foot to remove the USA stone, but failed to do so, giving USA the victory with a 9-7 final.
At the conclusion of the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2016, 12 Members Associations have earned Olympic Qualification Points for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea (between 9 and 25 February 2018). They are: Russia (14), China (12), USA (10), Scotland (9), Canada (8), Estonia (7), Finland (6), England (5), Norway (4), Slovakia (3), Austria (2) and Ireland (1).