After remaining unbeaten throughout the round-robin stage Russia suffered a playoff defeat yesterday against Switzerland, but will now have a chance to avenge that loss against the same opponents in the final after a 7-3 victory over Denmark.

Skip Anna Sidorova got them off to the perfect start, hitting to score two points in the first end, before producing a precision double take-out in the sixth to score three points for a 7-3 lead.

An umpire's measure gave Russia a single point in the eighth end to increase their advantage, and, after a steal in the ninth end for a 9-4 lead, Denmark conceded with one end left.

"This is the second time I've reached the final and it was really important for us to make a comeback from our last game and show that we are able to win," said Sidorova afterwards.

"Last time when we played in the final [in 2012] we were really relaxed because we didn't want to win it that much.

"But of course, as the game went on we really wanted to win it.

"Now it's a second chance for me to win this Championship and prove to everyone that our first win was not just lucky.

"We're here to prove to ourselves that we're able to win."

It would prove a day of double disappointment for Denmark as they went on to lose the bronze medal match against Scotland, with Eve Muirhead's team triumphing 8-4 in eight ends.

But on the men's side, there was more success for northern Europe when reigning world champions Norway fought their way to a 7-6 win over Italy in the semi-final.

Norway are through to the men's gold medal match after winning their final
©WCF/Allison Flannery




The Norwegians gave themselves a clear advantage in the fifth end, when skip Thomas Ulsrud drew his second stone into the house to score three points and take a 5-1 lead, and, despite an Italian fightback, managed more points in the seventh and eighth to stay in front.

They will now face Sweden in an all-Scandinavian final, with Norway seeking the rare achievement of holding world and European titles at the same time.

"We were able to take control early in the game with 5-1 going into the break," said a delighted Ulsrud.

"It's hard to come back against us.

"We played it safe and we managed to be two up coming home with hammer and we were looking good."

In the bronze medal match, Switzerland ensured two medals for the host nation at the Championships with an 8-6 victory over Italy, whose day went from bad to worse with another narrow loss.

Both finals will take place at the Palladium de Champéry tomorrow, with Russia versus Switzerland in the women's competition followed by Norway against Sweden in the men's event.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
November 2014: Sweden and Switzerland reach finals at European Curling Championships
November 2014: Hosts Switzerland book places at European Curling Championships playoffs
November 2014: Russian women and Swedish men first to qualify for European Curling Championships playoffs
November 2014: Russia and Sweden remain dominant as Finland falter at European Curling Championships
November 2014: Russia, Finland and Sweden remain unbeaten at European Curling Championships