Men: Injuries have resulted in an even weaker team than in Round 1, where Sweden finished 7th. Some of those selected seem hardly to have played any games this year. They should be able to beat Denmark and Bosnia H. in Pool A but are likely to come second to Round 1 winners Belgium. This would give them a quarter final place against Lithuania who were also much better than Sweden in Round 1. I would then expect them to play for placings 5 – 8 and to finish the two rounds in place 6/7, the lowest placing in many years. Ian Gowland, who has a niggling injury, is selected as 13th man and will hopefully be groomed to take over after trainer Massey T. who can point to little success in the job.
Ladies: A couple of team changes from Round 1, but this is basically what we´ve got. Sweden came 5th in Round 1 and will now face Romania, Turkey and Switzerland in Pool B. They should beat the two latter teams but would have to be at their very best to beat Romania. I fear it will be a second place and a quarter-final against Finland. They got to the semi in Round 1 but are beatable and this would give a semi against Germany, winners of Round 1 and almost certainly the end of the road. There are of course various other combinations of results but it´s hard to see Sweden getting beyond the semis. A third place would give Sweden a total of 28 points over the two rounds, but both Germany and Romania would almost certainly be placed higher, promoted and continue to Olympic qualifying. Miracles can happen, games only last 14 minutes, but a happy ending for Sweden would be a major bonus.