TOURNAMENT TO DATE: 151/142/4
FIN -1½ over BLR
FIN -2½ +115 over BLR
GER -1½ +140 over AUT
GER/AUT o1½ 3P +160 IN-GAME
AUT TT o1½ IN-GAME
GER/AUT o3½ +165 IN-GAME
GER/AUT o2½ 3P +125 IN-GAME
FIN/BLR o1½ 3P +135 IN-GAME
FIN/BLR o2½ 3P +125 IN-GAME
FIN -1½ +700 IN-GAME
FIN/AUT o3½ +235 IN-GAME
FIN -1½ 3P +350 IN-GAME
TOURNAMENT TO DATE: 161/152/4
SLO/DEN u5½
SWE -3½ +115 over FRA
SWE/FRA o5½
SWE TT o3½ +125 IN-GAME
DEN TT o2½ IN-GAME
FRA TT o1½ +135 IN-GAME
SWE -2½ +145 over FRA IN-GAME
SWE/FRA o5½ +125 IN-GAME
SWE/FRA o6½ +125 IN-GAME
SLO/DEN u3½ +125 IN-GAME
SWE -1½ +125 over FRA IN-GAME
SWE -2½ +115 3P over FRA IN-GAME
SWE -2½ +125 over FRA IN-GAME
SWE/FRA o7½ +170 IN-GAME
SLO/DEN u2½ +160 IN-GAME
FRA TT o2½ +175 IN-GAME
FINAL PRELIMINARY DAY NOTES:
For two teams – Belarus and Slovakia – it’s a matter of securing a place in the last eight. For three more - USA, Russia and Finland - it’s about jockeying for position and gaining the most favourable possible opponent as the business end of the tournament gets underway.
The first issue to be decided is the team that gets into fourth place. As things stand, it’s advantage Belarus, with Dave Lewis and his men taking on Norway in the lunchtime game knowing that a point will extend their tournament. “It’s in our own hands,” Lewis said after the shoot-out defeat against Finland put Belarus three points ahead of Slovakia. “If we bring our game like we did today we will be in control of our own fate.”
Defeat against the Norwegians in regulation could still see Belarus pipped by Slovakia, though. Vladimir Vujtek’s team got an overtime win over Belarus and would progress by virtue of a better head-to-head record if it beats the USA in regulation time and claws back that three-point deficit. Either Belarus or Slovakia would then travel to Prague to play an impressive Canadian roster in the last eight.
But the Americans also have something to play for in that afternoon game – any kind of victory today against Slovakia would see them top Group B and earn a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland in Ostrava. Defeat would open the door for the winners of the evening game between Finland and Russia, both of whom are a point behind but both of home lost to the USA earlier in the group stage. Whatever the outcome, though, the Americans cannot finish lower than second.
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