Hosts Switzerland claim two wins on opening day of inaugural World Mixed Curling Championships

Switzerland recorded two wins on the opening day of the Championships ©WCF

Hosts Switzerland got off to the perfect start at the World Mixed Curling Championship in front their home crowd in Bern after winning their opening two matches.

Their team of Michael Brunner, Briar Huerlimann, Celine Koller and skip Yannick Schwaller opened the competition with a 7-4 win over China, before producing a stunning display in their second tie of the day by thrashing New Zealand 8-1.

The victories saw the team move to the top of Group C of the 36-team competition but they could be joined by Poland, who earned a 13-6 win over Kazakhstan in their opening tie, while Russia scored one point in the final end of their tie with England to earn a 5-4 win.

Sweden were the second of only three teams to play and win two matches on the opening day to the event, as Rasmus Wrana and Johanna Heldin combined with Zandra and Joakim Flyg to begin their campaign by beating Italy 6-3.

They then secured a 9-3 victory over Belgium, who ended the day with two defeats having been beaten 6-2 by Slovakia in their first Group A tie.

Sweden beat Italy and Belgium to move to the top of Group A ©WCF

“The key to our performance this morning was that we practiced good,” said Wrana, the Swedish skip, following their excellent start.

“Even though this game was a bit straighter than our training we figured out our strategy and played for the win.”

There was also a dream start for the Estonian team in Group D after posting a narrow 6-5 win over Japan, before backing up that result by overcoming Belarus 6-2.

The most eye-catching result in the group, however, was Scotland’s 13-2 triumph over Brazil, which would prove to be the biggest winning margin of the day.

The Scottish team were joined by Hungary and Turkey on one win after they recorded 7-3 and 7-4 wins over the United States and Austria respectively.

Group B saw several closely fought matches with Canada benefiting from scoring four points in the fifth end to beat Finland 6-4, while Latvia defeated Spain 8-7.

Germany, though, enjoyed a comfortable 10-2 triumph over Wales to record the most dominant win in the group on the opening day.