Worlds Day 4 - Canada alone at top after Scotland end Norway's unbeaten run

Norway's run of 22 games without defeat came to a decisive halt when they faced Scotland in Draw 7 of the World Championships in Prague. The game went with hammer, with Scotland holding a 3-1 edge at the break, before the Scots posted steals of 3 in the 5th and 6th before early handshakes and a 9-1 win.

Scots skip Aileen Nielson pointing to the exact spot for the stone to finish [World Curling Federation/Vladimir Nosek]

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The win put Scotland in a tie with Norway for second place and skip Aileen Nielson was delighted to have broken Norway's streak.  "My team played a phenomenal game. But we need to keep our heads screwed on because we’ve still got three more games to go.” Scotland had beaten Germany 10-4 earlier in the day but still have to face Korea, China and Canada.

Scotland's 3rd Tom Killin braced by Gregor Ewan in action against Germany
[World Curling Federation/Vladimir Nosek]

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Canada had a very tough 5-4 win over the Czech Republic to maintain their unbeaten record and claim sole ownership of the top of the table. The Czechs went out to an early 3-0 lead before seeing it slip away in a series of single point steals. Skip Radek Pokorný said his team had tried hard to surprise Canada and thought they did that, managing to force Canada into some difficult situations.

Canadian Ina Forrest and Czech Martin Tluk [World Curling Federation/Vladimir Nosek]

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Korea kept their playoff hopes alive with an 8-2 win on four consecutive steals over fellow challengers Russia, though Russia regrouped to post a 14-0 win over an emotionally drained Czech Republic.

Korea's Haenam Yang using a crossover delivery, braced by Giteak Kuon [World Curling Federation/Vladimir Nosek]

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China handed Germany their second loss of the day, and kept their playoff hopes on track with the 11-1 win. They are tied with Korea and Russia for fourth place.

China's He Jun

[World Curling Federation/Vladimir Nosek]
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Sweden won their second game and put paid to USA's medal chances with a 9-6 win. USA have lost some very close games this week, but in a game they had to win they were down 5-0 after two ends despite having hammer. They pulled back to level the scores and started the 7th with hammer but gave up 3 and lost 9-6.

Sweden's Patrik Burman braced by Kristina Ulander
[World Curling Federation/Vladimir Nosek]

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“It feels very good to have a win finally again,” said coach and last year's skip Jalle Jungnell “It’s very hard as you see things so much more clearly from above. it’s very clear what the team needs to do! And you get frustrated that you can’t actually play the shot.”

Table after Draw 8

Canada 6-0
Norway 5-1
Scotland 5-1
China 3-3
Korea 3-3
Russia 3-3
Sweden 2-4
Germany 1-5
Czech Republic 1-5
USA 1-5

Canada plays Germany and Norway tomorrow.  You can see the full schedule, results and tables in our Worlds 2011 section of the wheelchaircurling.com website.

Line scores are available HERE and a large gallery of photos are available HERE