The Scottish Men’s Curling Team lost out on a gold medal at the World Championships in North Dakota on Sunday night to a strong Canadian team. Canada won 6-3 in a nail biting encounter which was close throughout with only one shot in it by the end of the eighth end.
David Murdoch and his team had earlier beaten favourites Canada in the play-offs but had also lost to the them in the round robin clash. Canada, who are ranked World Number 1 by some distance, had to come through a second playoff match, this time against Norway to reach the final.
In the early round robin matches, it looked as though the Scots would fail to even qualify for the playoffs after three defeats in five games to the Czech Republic, USA and Canada. However the 2006 World Champs won their six remaining matches to qualify in 2nd with eight wins and three defeats. Canada managed to qualify 1st with ten victories and a solitary loss against China – the lowest ranked team in the tournament.
The Scots victory in the playoff match against the Canadians came somewhat as a shock especially after going 6-2 behind after the fourth end. However, the Scots showed superb resilience to comeback and win 7-6 after stealing three of the last four ends.
Murdoch and his team took a days rest as Canada defeated Norway in the final playoff match to set-up a rematch with the Scots, and they took their revenge with a 6-3 win.
Scotland will rise to 2nd place in the World Rankings after their silver medal – adding to their European Championship title success, which was gained in 2007.
- David Murdoch’s Team Achievements
- 2003 European Championship Gold Medalists
- 2005 European Championship Bronze Medalists
- 2005 World Championship Silver Medalists
- 2006 European Championship Silver Medalists
- 2006 World Championship Gold Medalists
- 2007 European Championship Gold Medalists
- 2008 World Championship Silver Medalists
Lion Rampant Sports 