Karlstad Update 2

As the group games progress here in the B arena in Karlstad the various possible outcomes are becoming clear.

In the women's competition, Norway remain undefeated after 6 games and one more win from their last three games will see them in the play-offs. Their nearest challengers are Estonia who have recovered from their surprise first session defeat by England to put together a run of 5 victories, while Austria have also bounced back and lie third on 4 wins.

At the other end of the table Belarus and Slovakia have just one win each with England and Spain on 2 wins. Which leaves the middle ground where Poland, Turkey and Latvia have three wins each.The top 4 teams qualify for the play-offs while the bottom two are relegated to the C Division.

The men's teams are in two groups. In the red group it looks like the two qualifiers will come from Italy, England and Finland who are all on 4 wins and 1 loss. They have all played each other and since Italy have beaten England who beat Finland who beat Italy, if they all win their last two games then the rankings based on the Draw Shot Challenge will decide who finishes top and who will then play -off for the second qualifying place. Italy's remaining games are against Turkey (2 wins and 3 losses) and Slovakia (1 win and 4 losses) while both Finland and England have to play Spain (2 wins and 3 losses) and Wales (1 win and 4 losses). The other team in the section, Estonia, are also on 2 wins and 3 losses.

At his 18th Europeans, Adrian Meikle is finding the going tough this year and Wales are staring relegation in the face with difficult games to come against Finland and then England.

In the blue group, the other home country, Ireland, is propping up the table with the new team, skipped by Alan Mitchell and with John Furey playing last stones, being unable to capitalise on their first session victory over Latvia. They have just one game to play against Belgium which is a must win, as the teams immediately above them, Lithuania and Austria, both have at least one more victory.

Latvia and Netherlands have 4 victories and 1 loss at the top of the table with Belgium their nearest challenger on 3 wins and 2 losses. While Poland and Croatia also have 3 wins, they have both lost 3 games and have only game left.

On the ice at the moment are the women and a further update will follow this afternoon.