Latvia curlers beat India in final end for first world qualifier win

Latvia's men's curling team won their first game at the World Championship qualifier in Scotland on Wednesday, beating India 7-6 in Group B with the decisive point in the final end, the Latvian news agency LETA reported.

It had been a difficult tournament until then. Latvia lost their first four games: 7-4 to both Australia and the Philippines, 8-2 to Slovenia and 4-1 to Belgium. With a 1-4 record they are seventh in the eight-team group.

The route to the world championship

Sixteen teams are taking part, split into two groups that each play a round robin. The top two in each group reach the semi-finals, and all four semi-finalists earn places at the 2027 World Men's Curling Championship. The semi-final winners then play for gold and the losers for bronze.

Only the top two in the group advance, so in their two remaining games, against the Netherlands and New Zealand, Latvia will be playing to finish as high as possible in the table.

Latvia reached the event by winning a place at the European pre-qualifier in Ljubljana in May. The team is Arnis Veidemanis, Roberts Reinis Buncis, Jānis Klīve, Aleksandrs Baranovskis and Rihards Jeske.