Spouses Paul won their seventh title of national champions in the mixed doubles category on Tuesday, and at the same time won their tickets to the world championships in Sweden in April. In the final matches, which are played for two wins, they beat last year’s champions Julia Zelingrová and Vít Chabičovský with a score of 2:0.
“We knew that the final tournament of the top eight teams would be a real curling marathon. Our goal was to get through the basic part and then really tighten the tubes in the playoffs,” says Zuzana Paulová about the plan that she and Tomáš finally successfully fulfilled.
Julie and Vít, who represented the Czech Republic at the last two World Championships, looked like a very strong team during the regular season. They were the only pair to advance to the playoffs without defeat, and even in the first semi-final they managed to beat the Pauls.
In the final matches, according to Zuzana Paulová, experience and timed form could decide, while Julie Zelingorvá talks about mental fatigue.
“I think we managed to get in shape for the last matches, when we played really well in the semi-final and the first final match. In the second final, we were quite taken aback by the drastic change in the ice conditions and I had a really big problem adapting. In the end, I think our experience from similar matches, when we put aside the fact that we are not able to play the types of stones we are used to, and we pulled through in the end. Of course, we are very happy with the win,” explains Zuzka.
Julie recently returned from the Youth Olympics in Korea, where she competed in the mixed doubles category with Ondřeh Blaha, and according to her, this change also affected the course of the final.
“A week before the MCR, I came back from the YOG, where the ice, the time and the composition of the matches were completely different. This week we played ten matches in four days, which was a huge change compared to any system of other tournaments. And unfortunately, during the last two matches, it fell on me mainly mental fatigue, when it was too much for me in the last month,” he says.
In the end, the third place was taken by the Klím couple, who defeated Kristýna Farková and David Jakle in the fight for bronze.
Overall, the top eight teams are:
- Zuzana Paulová / Tomáš Paul
- Julie Zelingrová / Vít Chabičovský
- Petra Klímová / Lukáš Klíma
- Kristýna Farková / David Jakl
- Veronika Vašáková / Ondřej Bodlák
- Sofie Krupičková / Ondřej Blaha
- Karolína Frederiksen / Tomáš Válek
- Klára Cihlářová / Tomáš Macek
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