Wales' men's curling team finished the round-robin stage of the European Curling Championships with 4 wins and 3 losses, equalling their performance from 12 months ago in Stavanger.
The men had the potential to go further, after keeping pace with Belgium, Hungary and Austria at bay until the half-time break in all their matches, but in each case their opponents opened up a significant lead during the second half of the match.
* - There are 10 teams in the A-Division, so Wales' final ranking will be 10 + 9 (B-Division ranking).
Watch highlights of Wales' games at Monthey on the
Welsh Curling YouTube Channel.
The performance is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, despite the official rankings being likely to show Wales dropping two spots to 19th* overall - based on draw-shot challenge, win/loss record and other factors like total score and which teams they beat. Wales' national side certainly need not worry about returning to the C-Division. Wales were relegated to the C-Division in 2012, but earned promotion straight away by winning the C-Division contest in October 2013.
The Championships continue, with England's men making it through to the B-Division play-offs, while Scotland are also still in with a chance of medals in the A-Division.
Final B-Division Standings after Tie-breakers and Play-offs
Rank | Team | Games | Wins | Losses | |||||
1 | NED - Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 1 | |||||
2 | FIN - Finland | 8 | 7 | 1 | |||||
2 | ENG - England | 8 | 6 | 2 | |||||
4 | HUN - Hungary | 9 | 6 | 3 | |||||
5 | TUR - Turkey | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||
6 | AUT - Austria | 8 | 5 | 3 | |||||
7 | CRO - Croatia | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||
8 | BEL - Belgium | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||
9 * | WAL - Wales | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||
10 | EST - Estonia | 7 | 4 | 3 | |||||
11 | ISR - Israel | 7 | 3 | 4 | |||||
12 | POL - Poland | 7 | 3 | 4 | |||||
13 | LTU - Lithuania | 7 | 1 | 6 | |||||
14 | ESP - Spain | 7 | 1 | 6 | |||||
15 | ROU - Romania | 7 | 0 | 7 | >C | ||||
DNS | FRA - France | 7 | 0 | 7 | >C |