Germany win third straight, but is it enough?

Eurosport - Wed, 26 Mar 08:16:00 2008

German curling legend Andrea Schoepp wonders if this is too little, too late.

CURLING Germany wins third in a row: too late for playoffs? - 0

Germany has won three consecutive games, the latest a cautious 5-3 victory over Italy, to climb to 4-3 at the 2008 World Women's Curling Championship.

"But we lost three games in a row, too!" Schoepp pointed out.

Schoepp, the former world champion (1988) who has won demonstration Olympic gold (1992) plus six Le Gruyère European Championships, doubts that her late heroics will result in post round-robin play.

"For the playoffs, I think it will be tough," said Schoepp. "The Olympic points are important now.

"We should not have lost to Switzerland (on Sunday)," Schoepp added.

"I made the wrong decision on my last shot, totally the wrong decision.

"It happens, but not too much."

Two other Tuesday night matches featured wild swings on the scoreboard. Canada found themselves down 6-1 to the United States and in further trouble in the fifth end, when skip Jennifer Jones made two stunning draws to snatch a three-ender. Canada grabbed another three two ends later, stole the eighth and then drew for two on last stone for a remarkable 10-9 victory.

Canada sits at 6-1, behind first-place China (7-0) while the U.S., skipped by Debbie McCormick, dropped to 4-3.

Meanwhile, Denmark erased deficits of 4-1 and 6-4 to eventually take three in the final end for a 9-7 win over Switzerland. Denmark's Angelina Jensen, the 2007 World silver medallist, is at 5-2 along with Switzerland's Mirjam Ott.

In the other game, Japan's Moe Meguro made it a two-win day by beating the Czech Republic 5-4. Meguro, now at 4-3, made a stellar draw against four Czech counters for the key extra-end win.

Japan faces Canada on Wednesday morning, while Denmark meets Germany, Switzerland battles Italy and the United States meets the Czech Republic.

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