Today, May 24, the Arctic Curling Cup started in Dudinka. 10 mixed doubles teams take part in the tournament with prize fund is USD 30 000.

The teams are divided into two groups of 5 teams, two best teams from each group will reach the semi-final.

Duncan Menzies/Gina Aitken (Scotland) and Fabian Wingfors/Malin Wendel (Sweden), as well as Tomas Paul/Zuzana Gaykova (Czech Republic) and Reid Carruthers/Joanne Courtney (Canada) were the first to go to the ice of the Taymyr Palace.

The Scots surely had a match. In the third, fifth and seventh ends they won three stones, after which the need for the 8th end was eliminated. The result is 10-3 in the favor of Scotland.

The second match presented the first sensation. The silver medalists of the 2017 World Mixed Doubles Championsips, Carruthers and Courtney, who are among main favorites of the tournament, successfully started the match: 3-0 after two ends, but the Czechs won two stones in the third end. The key to the game was the 4th end: the Czechs managed to steal it after the mistake of Joanne Courtney with the score 4-0. The Canadians managed to win two stones in the 5th end, but then the Czechs played two consecutive ends without errors, winning 1-0, and in the 8th end the Canadians lost their chances of salvation in the match before the last stone. The result 8-5 in favor of Tomas Paul and Zuzana Gaykova.

After the match Tomas noted that it was the luck and mistake of Courtney in the 4th end that became decisive in the match. Zuzana added that it was one of the best games of the year for them, to beat such a strong pair is always nice, although at the beginning of the match it was difficult to imagine such a completion.