Brewster won’t let go of his title easily
Tom Brewster arrived in the Fair City this week with plans to retain his Mercure City of Perth Masters title.
The Aberdeen-based Olympian guided his team to an 8-3 triumph against Norway’s Team Walstad in last year’s final.
And he wants more Perth success, saying:“I am looking forward to returning to the Perth Masters to defend last year’s victory.
“It’s always an event I enjoy and have had great success at it over the years and I’m proud to have the most title wins at this event.
“The field is always strong and a good test for any team.
“This will be the start of our build up to the Scottish Championships in Perth.
“We will be using it to re-familiarise ourselves with the conditions there.”
Fellow Scots Team Mouat swept into action last night with hopes of building on impressive form.
Skip Bruce Mouat entered the record books in November when his squad became the first Scottish men’s team to claim a Grand Slam title.
That came at the Boost National in Ontario and helped the team rise to 16th in the world rankings.
Tom Brewster Bruce said:“The Perth Masters is always a great way to start off a new year of curling.
“The guys and I will be looking to continue the success we had towards the end of last year.
“It’s nice to see a number of the Olympic teams playing as well, so it will be a strong event.”
British Curling’s Team Bryce, as well as Team Drummond skipped by Sochi silver medallist Greg Drummond, will also be competing in Perth.
The field includes seven of the world’s top 20 ranked teams with other notable participants including Sweden’s European champions Team Edin, Switzerland’s Team De Cruz, Norway’s Team Ulsrud and Team Walstad and Canada’s Team Simmons, as well as former Scottish champion Ewan MacDonald, a multiple world and European champion.
It will be the 42nd hosting of Scotland’s largest Bonspiel and its importance in the calendar was acknowledged by British Curling’s performance director Graeme Thompson.
“He said:“This event continues to attract the highest calibre of competition for the UK’s biggest curling prize fund.
“It is a great opportunity for fans of curling to witness Olympic curling teams in action in Scotland before they assemble in South Korea for the pinnacle event of our sport.”
Admission to the Perth Masters is free and the World Curling Federation will be webcasting some of the games over the four days of competition.