Spain record shock victory over Canada at World Mixed Curling Championships

Spain recorded a surprise win over Canada on the third day of competition ©WCF

Spain produced one of the biggest shocks of the 2015 World Mixed Curling Championships so far after recording a victory over Canada as the round robin stage of the tournament reached the halfway mark in the Swiss capital Bern.

As one of the most successful curling nations, Canada had been expected to record a straightforward win over the Spanish team, who were yet to record their first victory in Group B at the inaugural event.

However, the third and fourth ends presented a very real possibility of a surprise result as Spain’s Sergio Vez, Mikel Unanue, Oihane and Leira Otaegi produced a sequence of excellent shots which saw them move from 1-0 down to 5-1 in front.

Despite a resurgence from the Canadian team they were unable to overhaul their rivals, leaving the Spanish team in shock at their unexpected 6-5 triumph.

“We didn’t expect to defeat Canada, we are very proud to beat a nation like them,” said Vez afterwards.

“I think we came together during the game and I think they may have begun to think they could lose to Spain.”

Despite recording the first win Spain were unable to back up that performance in their second tie of the day as they were beaten 9-6 by Australia, while Canada recovered from their defeat by overcoming Latvia 7-4.

Their victory meant that three teams are tied for top spot in the group after Norway ended Germany’s unbeaten record with an impressive 6-3 win, which saw them move level with their rivals.

Host nation Switzerland are one of five unbeaten teams ©WCF

Five teams still boast 100 per cent records so far at the Championships and with three teams in each group set to advance to the knock-out phase they appear almost assured of progression.

To the delight of the home crowd, Switzerland are one of the nations yet to taste defeat after they recorded a 6-4 win over Poland, although they share the Group B lead with Russia who beat the Czech Republic 7-5.

Hungary and Scotland head Group D, after four straight wins, as the Hungarian team beat Turkey 7-4 while Scotland thrashed Belarus 12-1.

Meanwhile, Sweden have the sole leadership of Group A after they defeated Lithuania 7-3 in their only match of the third day of competition.