Finnish team has won the final game at San Prudencio Curling Cup 2018 beating the team from San Sebastián Txuri-Berri Fisio Estébanez, who won the title last year, in a game full of emotion, and that for the first time, has been broadcasted in streaming, in an initiative by Harrikada, with a big success.
San Prudencio Curling Cup 2018 has already finnished and it has left a mark in Álava on its most festive weekend. This way is how many of tournaments or bonspiel that a curling player can attend. Harrikada Curling Taldea made its most to offer a top bonspiel to all the participants.
Once again, Bakh ice rink has been the scenery of this new edition focused on all level players, where depending the results, the next games are more attractive while others where they are not so lucky on the sport side they can keep in the competition with their same level teams. Harrikada Curling School Students have had the opportunity to face experienced teams, both national and highlighted international participants.
The day before Saint Patron, the bonspiel started with a series of rounds, games, ends and granite stone throws as a drum roll in a tamborrada night. This gave the teams the opportunity to start qualifying.
Saturday promised to be a strong emotions day, looking at the weather conditions, combined with a third half to recover before a new game. We wouldn´t miss snails and perretxiko mushrooms, typical of San Prudencio festivity, very appreciated from our faraway players like Americans, Finnish, German, Monaco, Catalans, Madrid, Aragon, Valladolid and the closesd like Bizkaia, Gipuzcoa and Araba.
To top it all off, the gala dinner had Hammer Spain Awards. The Awards were to: to improvement (Iraitz Goldarazena), Special (Harrikada CT), best junior female player (Lydia Vallés), best junior male player (Gontzal García), best female player (Oihane Otaegi), best male player (Sergio Vez) and best Club (Txuri Berri).
The reward for the most accurated teams in the first two days was playing tittle phases at midday while the punishment to the less resolutives was a difficult early morning on Sunday after gala dinner post party dancing.
This is fun and sociable, curling that attracts strangers from all over the world to a city that wellcomes them by the hand of a Club, Harrikada, that has done a risky bet to be on the top of the most attractive tournaments of Europe.
And this is how a group of Finnish in one side and San Sebastian on the other were going up in the competition. Scandinavians defeated Harrikada Curlstore, Kepa Taldea, Puigcerdà Pànxing Padawan’s, Val d’Aran. Double pair from Txuri Berri after a defeat against Sporting L’Olla Cyril, got back in the ranking thanks to Barcelona 1, Hielo Pisuerga and Sant Esteve de les Roures Berga. The final game was there.
There was one place in the podium to be determined; Puigcerdà Pànxing Padawan’s, Txuri-Berri Gorena, Val d’Arán and Sant Esteve de les Roures Berga, were disputing it in two lines separated by the grand final. Finally, Sporting l’Olla Cyril and Sporting l’Olla Carlos did not play this round.
Val d’Aran beated Puigcerdá Pànxing Val d’Arán, and Txuri Berri Gorena did the same against Sant Esteve de les Roures Berga, but Txuri Berri had a scoreboard with more ends that made them to be third in the podium.
Prior to honour round, 9 to 16 ranking was as follows: Harrikada Curlstore, Puigcerdà Pànxing Jedys, B52 Curling Madrid, Barcelona 2, Kepa Taldea, Harrikada Vitrogres, Iceberg Curling and Harrikada T&I.
The group from 17 to 24, was as follows; Jaca, Saint Paul Curling, Harrikada Oreka, Barcelona 1, Hielo Pisuerga, Harrieskola Vital, Harrieskola Aktion, and Team Random.
The final game started punctually according to such as this event required as it was going to be broadcasted and followed from streaming platforms of Baicast, Hammer Spain, EITB, FEDH and, obviously, spcc.harrikada.eus.
Rillanders started 1-0, and Txuri Berri answered with 2 to be up on the game. On the third end the match would show the quality of the throws would be the most important to accurate the strategy as both teams faced to face in a big fight. This made a great atmosphere for the fans in the stands that kept cheering up their faves.
Finnish team was more accurated and constant on its take-outs while Txuri Berri attacked with draw shots. In this way, they got 2 on the third end and one more on the next.
Txuri Berri reacted with 2 stones on the 6th end and try to find a last option after loose 1 stone on the 7th.
The last end started with a few playing stones in the house that could assure the match with 2 stones advantage. In that moment, take-outs to guards where not enough diagonal. Txuri Berri tried to take advantage of that but the centre was still open. Green finnish stones on one side of the house and San Sebastian red stones trying to catch up an area with not enough protection. Txuri Berri runned out all the options and finally they gave up the game.
Rillanders, unknown club here, is already part of San Prudencio Curling Cup winners that has made a way on the best european fun and sociable bonspiels, very satisfied due to high participation (it raised the maximum capacity of Bakh ice rink with 24 teams), a big human effort by the organization (30 Harrikada club members, 24 hours per day) and a high support by curling ice-maker Alfonso Villar, and with the possition to be a Spanish reference on Curling practice in ice conditions open to all possibilities in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
An intense weekend that we won´t like to finnish until we thank the support of all our collaborators like Diputación de Álava, Kirolaraba, Ayuntamiento de Vitoria, Federaciones Alavesa and Vasca de Deportes de Invierno, Federación Española de Deportes de Hielo, Fundación Vital, Orekait, Aktion Aventura, Bar Hirusta, Baicast and Hammer Spain, Universal Tracción, Vitrogres, Traducción e interpretación T&I, Construcciones Arroyabe, Mecanizados Uriarte, Curlstore, Bodegas Solotero, Cafés La Brasileña, Lep Geotermia and Lacturale, and all the fans on the stands and screens that enjoyed and passed on the best atmosphere in an even with Harrikada name.
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