New Zealand’s Dan Mustapic and Finland’s Kalle Kiiskinen, the only two Olympians in the field having both competed at Turin 2006, went head to head in the opening Group B session.

It was Olympic silver medallist Kiiskinen and his sister Katja who emerged victorious as they defeated Mustapic and his teammate Marisa Jones 11-3.

“It's always important to start with a win because you're still trying to find your way around the ice,” said Katja Kiiskinen. 

“We want to be in the play-offs but we will just take it one game at a time.

“I don't see why we can't do well in the play-offs if we just find our game."

Finland overcame Austria 11-2 later in the evening, while Norway’s Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien won 8-6 against New Zealand to follow up a 7-5 victory against Italy.

Last year’s runners-up, Camilla Johansson and Per Noreen of Sweden, beat Brazil 7-0 having opened their account with a 9-4 win against Slovenia.

After losing 8-3 to Latvia in the first session, China reversed the scoreline in their favour against Slovenia for their first win.

Italy defeated Latvia 9-0 to bounce back from their defeat to Norway, while Austria got off the mark by beating Brazil 7-5.

Turkey, Japan, the United States, Denmark and hosts Russia all picked up wins in Group A following an entertaining Opening Ceremony involving hundreds of local performers and schoolchildren, in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 people.

Turkey, playing at the Championship for only the second time in their history, defeated experienced Australian team mates Kim Forge and Steve Johns 7-6.

On the next sheet, Japan were behind 6-4 going into the eighth and final end of their game against the Czech Republic, but managed to score four points and win 8-6.

Russia, meanwhile, delighted the home crowd as they defeated France 10-1, stealing seven points in the last three ends.

The US’s Korey Dropkin made a winning return to the Ice Cube Curling Centre following his appearance at the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships and, along with teammate Sarah Anderson, managed to beat Slovakia 7-3.

"It's pretty important to get out there and get a good start to the week,” said Dropkin.

“It was a good opportunity to get used to the ice - it was a little bit different to what it was like during practice yesterday, but it was a good game for us, a good win."

The only other game in Group A saw Denmark defeat defending champions Switzerland, who are represented this year by Marc Pfister and Carole Howald.

Denmark’s Denise and Oliver Dupont secured their win after opening with a score of two points before stealing five points in the next three ends on their way to an 8-4 victory.

As for Group C, Scotland picked up the biggest win of the session as they defeated Romania 16-0, while Estonia opened with a 10-1 win against England.

Hungary’s Dorottya Palancsa and Zsolt Kiss, the 2013 World Mixed Doubles champions, didn’t get the start they wanted as they lost 9-7 to Canada’s Kalynn Park and Charley Thomas.

"We're pretty happy,” said Thomas.

“We've got a little way to go in terms of performance, but it's a good start for us.

“We just need to be a little sharper next time and keep it going."

On the other sheets, Spain won 11-7 against Belarus and South Korea beat Poland 8-4.

The round-robin action in Sochi is due to continue tomorrow.


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