Curlers are back on track
The Peak-based Scottish curlers have bounced back into medal contention at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Las Vegas after recording five straight wins.
The team of Ross Paterson, Kyle Waddell, Duncan Menzies, Craig Waddell and alternate Euan Kyle lost two of their first three matches to Korea and Norway.
But they’ve since gone on a great run, beating Denmark 7-3, Germamy 6-4, USA 9-7 and Finland 10-5.
And they made it five out of five with a great 6-0 victory over Czech Republic on Wednesday - without once having last stone advantage.
That win means they sit alone in second spot behind leaders Canada.
In the fourth end, with Scotland 1-0 ahead, Czech skip Lukas Klima was heavy with a draw to give up another point to double the Scottish lead to 2-0. By contrast, Klima’s hit attempt in the eighth end came up light, giving Scotland another single-point steal, on the way to their 6-0 victory.
Afterwards Kyle Waddell said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a game where I’ve won and never had hammer, but I’ll take it. That was just our most clinical game to be honest.”
He added, “All we’re focusing on is turning up and beating whoever is playing us. We’re looking forward to the rest of the games now. If the boys play like that there’s no reason why we can’t beat anybody.”
Yesterday (Thursday) the Stirling-based squad were due to face Netherlands and Sweden and today (Friday) their final round robin matches are against Canada and Switzerland.
Play-offs and semi-final ties are tomorrow (Saturday) with the bronze medal and gold medals games on Ssunday.