Curling: Bronze seems scant reward for Murdoch

Curling: Bronze seems scant reward for Murdoch - The Herald

MIKE HAGGERTY, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
December 19 2005

Scottish skip David Murdoch did not know whether to laugh or cry as he reflected on the bronze medals he and his team had won at the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Bronze was the well-deserved reward for a week of excellent play by the Scottish squad of Euan Byers, Warwick Smith, Craig Wilson, Ewan MacDonald and skip Murdoch from Lockerbie.

When they beat Switzerland by 7-5 in the bronze medal play-off game, the Scots produced the kind of form they had displayed for most of the week. Their only bad game was in the semi-final, which they lost by 7-4 to Norway’s Olympic champion, Pal Trulsen. And just to rub it in, the Norwegians went on to beat Sweden 9-4 in the final.

Against Switzerland, the Scots got off to a good start, scoring 2s at both the first and third ends to take a 4-1 lead into the half-time break. In the second half of the game, the Scots produced some accurate play to contain the Swiss and moved further ahead with another score of 2 in the 9th.

The Scots then ran the Swiss out of stones in the 10th end for their 7-5 victory.

After the game, Murdoch explained how much he wanted to make amends for the semi-final slip. “I’m absolutely delighted. We really, really deserved something for the way we’ve curled this week,” he said. “We were so fired up for this game.

“We lost bronze last year and there’s nothing worse than coming fourth. We were so determined we would win bronze.”

In the women’s division, Sweden’s Anette Norberg won her fifth successive European title, and sixth overall, beating Switzerland by 8-5. Denmark, who eliminated Scotland earlier in the week, took bronze by beating Norway 10-2.

The focus for both Scotland’s men and women now turns to this week’s Olympic selection procedures, with the final team line-ups for February’s Winter Olympics in Turin being announced on Thursday.

Both of Scotland’s teams in Germany came from the British squad system that is still not universally welcomed, and while the men’s team can hardly be faulted for their result, the fifth-placed women, skipped by Olympic champion Rhona Martin, failed to reach a place in the semi-finals, the target result asked of them by national coach Mike Hay.

In defending the squad system, the teams and their back-up staff are quick to point out that the women’s line-up had never played together before these championships. Critics of the system say that is exactly the point, and better results could be produced by an existing team.

Hay has little time for this debate. He said: “For me it’s a non-issue. The bottom line is that the squad system favours the best players.
“The ones that are making the noise are looking for a way to get in, and we’re not giving it to them.”

Hay spoke about the squad performances in glowing terms, “Overall, I’m really happy. Fifth place and third place is good. Of course, you want to win gold, but it’s more important to peak in seven weeks’ time. I’m very positive about going to the Olympics with these guys.”

Now, for Hay and his fellow selectors from the British Curling Association, work begins on a crucial week. Today they will sit down and make their Olympic selection and get it ratified.

Tomorrow morning they will contact every squad member to tell them whether they are in or out. Any appeals will be dealt with on Wednesday, and the Olympic teams will be announced the following day.

“Our selection process on Monday will go over the merits of each player,” explains Hay. “We’ve watched all the players for a year-and-a-half, and clearly Dave Murdoch has put himself in a strong position.

“If you win a medal at the Europeans, then you’ve done a great job,” added Hay, making it clear that at least one position in the Olympic line-up is not up for much debate.