Hungary and Wales both needed a timeout to analyse this situation
Wales have an uphill battle ahead of them if they want to qualify for the knock-out stage of this year's European Curling Championships. Adrian Meikle's team lost their second match of the B-Division contest today as Hungary found form exactly when they needed it.
The Hungarians, who unusually play with a Skip at Third position, took a 8-4 victory over Wales, mainly thanks to a number of successful double-takeouts by their Fourth, Krisztian Hall.
Despite setting up a few ends well, Wales never looked in control of the match, and didn't start well by letting Hungary steal 1 in the first end. Overall, the first half of the match was fairly even, despite Hungary taking a 1-shot lead into the mid-session break.
However, in the second half, Wales had a couple of difficult draws and double-takeout attempts which didn't work as effectively as Hungary's, and when Hungary stole in the 7th end to go 4 shots ahead, Wales were really up against it.
Wales are now joint third in their section, but have the small mercy of one game in hand. If they win both their matches tomorrow (Wed) it should set up a tie-breaker game against Hungary for a place in the play-offs. Wales can no longer afford a single loss if they are to have a shot at medals.
