A sign of how tough the field is, the lone undefeated team, Scotland, received its first loss during the evening draw on Monday at the BKT World Men’s Curling Championship at Temple Gardens Centre.
Leading 2-1 after four ends, Czechia stole one in the fifth and two in the sixth against Scotland. After giving up a single in the seventh, Czechia skip Lukas Klima made a fantastic double takeout to score three and end the game 8-2 in favour of Czechia over Scotland.
There is now a logjam at the top of the standings, with China, Norway, Scotland, and Switzerland at 4-1, while Canada and Sweden sit at 3-1.
In other action on Monday night, Japan stole two in the fourth end, which proved to be the difference-maker as they downed Austria 9-7.
Trailing by three with last rock in the 10th end, Italy scored two but fell just short against Norway, 9-8.
In a nail-biter, China scored one with last rock in the 10th end as they edged Germany 11-10.
The action continues Tuesday at the Temple Gardens Centre, with Canada returning to the ice to face Sweden. Also playing in Draw 9 are Japan versus Czechia and the United States against Austria.