Curlers in Vancouver

Feb 19 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THERE was a mixed bag of results for Great Britain’s curlers as their Winter Olympic campaign got under way, writes Gordon Bannerman.

Blair Atholl’s Eve Muirhead – pictured – had two tough ties to start the round-robin phase.She opened up with a cool-headed display to defeat the reigning world champions China in the opener, by a 5-4 margin after a dramatic extra-end.The Brits, who had been giving curling lessons to top singer Michael Buble at the Vancouver Club, were on song themselves and Muirhead, just 19, calmly delivered the winning stone.Muirhead said: “These are the shots the skip has got to make and I’m delighted that I did it. The skip gets all the credit when it’s right and all the criticism when you lose. We know that most of the games are going to come down to the wire, but these are the shots that have to be made.”Defending Olympic champions Sweden, as expected, proved a tough nut to crack in the second game and Team GB lost out 6-4, after a sluggish start.But Muirhead was determined to take the positives from that defeat going into yesterday’s clash with Russia.She was impressed with the vocal backing from GB fans in the packed area, saying: “The place is really buzzing. You can hardly hear yourself think.”David Murdoch’s men’s team had a disappointing start, losing 6-4 to Sweden in their opener. They weren’t at their best but the skip noted: “It’s pretty much the norm for us to lose the first game in a championship so maybe it’s a good thing”.The GB team, featuring Perth’s Pete Smith, bounced back immediately with a solid 9-4 win over France and their next game was against the Swiss.– pictured – had two tough ties to start the round-robin phase.

She opened up with a cool-headed display to defeat the reigning world champions China in the opener, by a 5-4 margin after a dramatic extra-end.

The Brits, who had been giving curling lessons to top singer Michael Buble at the Vancouver Club, were on song themselves and Muirhead, just 19, calmly delivered the winning stone.

Muirhead said: “These are the shots the skip has got to make and I’m delighted that I did it. The skip gets all the credit when it’s right and all the criticism when you lose. We know that most of the games are going to come down to the wire, but these are the shots that have to be made.”

Defending Olympic champions Sweden, as expected, proved a tough nut to crack in the second game and Team GB lost out 6-4, after a sluggish start.

But Muirhead was determined to take the positives from that defeat going into yesterday’s clash with Russia.

She was impressed with the vocal backing from GB fans in the packed area, saying: “The place is really buzzing. You can hardly hear yourself think.”

David Murdoch’s men’s team had a disappointing start, losing 6-4 to Sweden in their opener. They weren’t at their best but the skip noted: “It’s pretty much the norm for us to lose the first game in a championship so maybe it’s a good thing”.

The GB team, featuring Perth’s Pete Smith, bounced back immediately with a solid 9-4 win over France and their next game was against the Swiss.