They are only 13 and 15 years of age, and they represent a nation known more for outdoor sports played in the blazing sun. But they have captured the hearts of competitors and fans at the 2008 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships.
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George Karrys / World Curling Federation
Sergio Vez and Irantzu Garcia Vez are competing for Spain, and their winless record fails to tell the full story. They are calm and
composed on the ice and have found themselves in winning positions twice in the competition, losing four in the final end to fall to
powerful Norway 7-6, and losing 8-5 to Scotland after racing to an early 5-0 lead.
composed on the ice and have found themselves in winning positions twice in the competition, losing four in the final end to fall to
powerful Norway 7-6, and losing 8-5 to Scotland after racing to an early 5-0 lead.
"We're happy with our performance, we think we're playing well for our evel," said the 15-year-old Garcia Vez.
"We see this as a really great opportunity."
Following Wednesday's 9-4 loss to the Czech Republic, the Spaniards have one game remaining in the round-robin portion of the championship - a Thursday morning battle against Latvia.
"It's amazing to see this, especially with them so young and playing so well," said Czech opponent Radek Zdarsky.
"The only problem with their age seems to be the sweeping. They are so small they seem to have some problems."
Vez and Garcia Vez went 5-1 to win the Spanish Mixed Doubles title, beating out no less than 16 other teams. Two other teams were also
very young.
"They never seem nervous when on the ice," said coach Alberto Vez, the father of 13-year-old Sergio. "They act professional. It's really
amazing."
Canada dropped a 6-4 decision to Hungary to fall into a three-way tie for first place in their pool. Hungary and Sweden are also 4-2 while
three other teams - Japan, Estonia and Italy - are at 3-3.
"This feels really good," said Hungary's Ildiko Szekeres, who is paired with husband Gyorgy Nagy.
"Today we decided we had to win, we didn't have a choice."
"It is big to beat Canada," said Nagy. "But we were not watching them, we were worrying about ourselves."
The Hungarians take the new curling discipline very seriously.
"We have trained for this," said Nagy. "We had nine teams in our championships and we also played a Mixed Doubles bonspiel. We love it
and we want to win."
Szekeres is a former fitness champion who now focusses on curling.
"I had two children, so no more fitness competitions for me," she said.
"All losses are tough," said Canada's Dean Ross, who is paired with Susan O'Connor. "I didn't make any shots, I didn't help (Susan) out at
all."
In other matches, front-running Switzerland thumped China 11-3, Finland took out Poland 12-5, Denmark beat Wales 9-6, New Zealand
outscored the United States 9-5, England beat Estonia 7-5, Sweden crushed Italy 13-4, Slovakia defeated Japan 9-6, Latvia beat Scotland
8-2, Australia passed France 7-4 and Norway edged Russia 7-6.
The Finnish Curling Association is posting live results online of both Championships. The World Mixed Doubles results are available at: www.curling.fi/en/competitions/leagues/2688 and the World Seniors can be viewed at: www.curling.fi/en/competitions/leagues/2687
In addition, results are mirrored on the World Curling Federation website at: http://results.worldcurling.org
The host websites for the Championships are: www.wmdcc2008.com (World Mixed Doubles) and: www.wscc2008.com (World Seniors).
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