  Team Germany skip Andreas Kapp celebrates defeating Team Switzerland 6 to 4 during the first round of the playoffs at the 2007 World Men's Curling Championship at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alta., on Friday April 6, 2007. (Photo by Jason Franson/Edmonton Sun)
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The day seemed as easy as 1-2-3 for Andy Kapp.
Germany's skip ran off wins in two tiebreakers and a 6-4 squeaker over Ralph Stoeckli of Switzerland in the 3-4 game last night.
He meets Todd Birr of the U.S. in this morning's 10:30 a.m. bronze-medal game.
"Today was a really good day," said Kapp, who came through in all three must-win games. "We were standing with the wall behind us."
In his nine previous worlds appearances, Kapp has earned three bronze medals and one silver.
"We had to get to the semifinal to have a chance for the gold medal, so we like the situation," said Kapp. "Every game for us is now a bonus. If we win it, perfect. If we lose, OK, we had our bonus game.
"We said after we were 6-5, every game was our bonus game.
"I'm really satisfied with the way guys are playing and how the team keeps it together in a difficult situation."
Kapp would have met Stoeckli anyway had he been able to win his last round-robin game against Denmark Thursday night.
Instead, Kapp faced a busy day where the four 6-5 teams battled it out.
All it meant was more time to perfect his game. And Kapp responded, finishing the day shooting 89% and 90% in his last two starts.
Kapp seems confident enough to bring another medal home to Germany.
"We're in the same spot we should have been yesterday evening," said Kapp.
"We always practised, the whole season, the long road."
Kapp beat Sweden's Peja Lindholm in the second tiebreaker game after elimination Finn Markku Uusipaavalniemi earlier in the day.
"In every German Bundesliga, we play three games every day, so we are used to it," said Kapp. "At the worlds, it's a bit more work because you put more effort into it. We're really happy now."
Now, riding a three-game winning streak and dreaming he can duplicate Randy Ferbey's run from a deep tiebreaker to win a world title back in 2004, Kapp faces a U.S. team that is just coming off a flat performance in the 1-2 game.
"We lost against the U.S. and now we should win against the U.S.," joked Kapp.
"We play our own style ... German style. I don't know what you'd call it, but it works out."
Kapp kept his sweepers fresh by saving regular lead Andreas Kempf in for last night's game with Holger Hohne in the afternoon.
"I'm impressed with the whole week's effort and how we played the whole week," said Kapp.
