Winter Olympics, Curling | Norway flopped with Denmark in the Olympic thriller
Norway’s curling team and ship Steffen Walstad had a hard time defeating Denmark in Monday’s Olympic duel which had to win.
Only victory was good enough for the Norwegian players to maintain a realistic hope of a semi-final place. Norway played to several good chances that could decide the match in their favor, but failed time and time again.
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Denmark and ship Mikkel Krause finally got the chance to secure triumph with the last stone in the extra round. And he did not fail. Krause easily knocked out the best Norwegian stone for a decision sixth point to Danish.
Norway has reached four losses in six games. They are thus without a chance in a place among the top three in the basic game. A lot of help from other results is needed if Walstad and co. must clear the fourth semifinal place.
If the top three teams Sweden, Great Britain and Canada win their remaining matches in the basic game, Norway may have a chance to advance with three victories in its last three.
Then any mutual settlement can decide the race for fourth place in their favor.
Meets “easier” resistance
A little hope is preserved by the fact that Norway again has three supposedly affordable opponents in ROC (Russia), China and Italy in the basic Olympic game.
After much trouble against Danamrk, including an unusually weak boom by Walstad in the fifth round, Norway’s spring got the chance to hijack a narrow victory in the tenth and final regular round.
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With two points there, the Norwegian boys would have gained 6-5 from the regular Olympic match.
However, it failed again when Walstad laid Norway’s penultimate stone for briefly being better than the best Danish.
– No no no! shouted Discovery’s Thoralf Hognestad frustrated.
– I know how good he Danish four is, especially on the doubles. I guess I thought I would not slip too deep in the house, because I know how good he is at those blows. So then I got a little greedy to get it high in the house and it became too short, Walstad explains in an interview with Discovery.
– If that stone is longer, then he has to make a very difficult double takeout to prevent us from winning the battle, Norway’s ship adds.
First Danish victory
The Danes were last in the tournament, with five losses in just like many Olympic matches, before the neighbor meeting. Three of Denmark’s losses until Monday had occurred by a margin of five points or more.
But after an introduction with few points for both teams, Norway ended up in arrears. The team should actually have secured a two-point lead relatively easily in the fifth round.
Then Walstad unfortunately missed Denmark’s best stone in the estate, and instead disappeared all by himself.
– I will be dumb, Hognestad commented after the miss.
Expert and former Olympic silver medalist Christoffer Svae noted that Norway miscalculated the ice when the last stone whizzed right through the estate.
– That’s too bad. In an Olympic match, the teams must know that. A raw boom by Walstad. Almost an amateur boom, Hognestad added.
Wasted opportunities
Thus, the Danes stole a point in the fifth round, and increased their lead to 3-1.
Walstad corrected the remarkable miss in the next round as he made sure to Norwegian points and 3-3.
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The Danes still kept a notch ahead of much of the remaining match.
With hard play and several impressive stones, it was the ship Krause and his quartet that held a slight advantage.
A new great opportunity opens up for Norway in the tenth round, but there it fails again when it mattered most.
Instead, Denmark’s first Olympic victory became a fact in the extra round.