Perth Masters and Sunday roundup

The quarterfinals of the Ramada Perth Masters saw the three remaining Canadian sides on the same half of the draw. Hammy McMillan matched up against Kevin Koe. That game was broken open when Hammy was light on a draw against two Canadian stones and Blake MacDonald had a free draw for a third and a 6-2 lead. Kerry Burtnyk always looked in command against Wayne Middaugh in the all Canadian battle, although he had to play a pressure draw with last stone of the game to secure his win.

On the other side of the draw David Murdoch and his team were off early against Yusuke Morozumi's Japanese team. Peter Loudon and Norway's Thomas Ulsrud was tighter, 1-1 after five. But Ulsrud pulled off the big shot in the sixth, counted four, and that game was sewn up.

So to the semis, Murdoch v Ulsrud and Burtnyk v Koe. The latter match was over first. Burtnyk counted three at the first and then could not get another point as Koe and his team powered into the final. The teams shook hands after six with Koe 8-3 in front. All the linescores are here.

Murdoch has played Ulsrud some six times this season, with the Scots 4-2 ahead on wins (I think) prior to this game. Certainly Murdoch had won the last two games, in the Euro final and again earlier in this competition. It was not to be three in a row. Tied at 1-1 after four ends, the Norwegians stole two singles and were 3-1 up in the eighth. Murdoch could not get a stone hidden, and Ulsrud had an open hit for the game.

So it was Edmonton's Koe against Norway's Ulsrud in the final and when the Alberta side put three on the board in the first end, I wondered if I would be down the road early. Not so. In an entertaining and fascinating next three ends, Ulsrud worked back to 3-2, only to give up a further two in the fifth, after a measure. Intricate, delicate stuff it was, interspersed with the big weight clearances that you really had to be ice side to appreciate 'Broxden roundabout' weight.

Norway got two back in the sixth (it should have been three) then stole a single in the seventh, when MacDonald was inches away with an angled raise that would have given the Canadians a big end. So it was down the last with the scores tied, and Koe with the hammer.

The Canadians were not to be deprived. MacDonald was left with a draw to the four foot for the title and he was right on the money. Great stuff!

Top: Perth Masters champs 2009 , Nolan Thiessen (lead), Carter Rycroft (second), Blake MacDonald (4th), Kevin Koe (skip).

The Final. Thomas Ulsrud, with Kevin Koe and Blake MacDonald behind.

Kevin Koe

Honda Accord - very low mileage!

Today's caption, "Hello down there!" Nolan Thiessen.

Thomas Ulsrud and David Murdoch in the semifinal.

Pete Smith, "Not our day!"

Kerry Burtnyk, with Blake MacDonald and Kevin Koe (behind) in the semifinal.

Did I mention that Ramada is the competition's title sponsor? Blake MacDonald getting excited.

Blake again with Carter Rycroft. Presenting sponsor West End Garage, Broughty Ferry.

Pics by Bob.

I've not forgotten about Berne. Jackie Lockhart and the GB women's squad put Shannon Kleibrink's Canadian's into the B road in their third game as they made it to the quarters without loss. But in the first of the playoff games, they were to meet the Canadians again and this time were on the losing side of a 5-4 scoreline.

Perth Masters update

Kerry Burtnyk, above, and David Murdoch were the first two skips to qualify their teams for Sunday's quarterfinals of the Ramada Perth Masters, winning four in a row to come through from the A road. In the fourth round, Murdoch beat Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in an extra end, and Burtnyk defeated fellow Canadian Kevin Koe, for whom Blake MacDonald plays the last stones.

Koe and Ulsrud did however make it through, Koe by defeating Peter Loudon and Ulsrud by beating Wayne Middaugh in the last round of B.

The four other qualifiers from C, coming the hard way through, were Middaugh, Loudon, Yusuke Morozumi and Hammy McMillan.

A new competition now, the quarterfinals are on the ice at the Dewars Rinks at 09.00 Sunday morning. Get along to the rink if you can, or watch online here. An exciting day's play is in prospect!

David Murdoch

Thomas Ulsrud

Kevin Koe

Blake MacDonald

All pics by Bob, taken on Thursday and Friday.

More Perth Masters

The penalty for losing your first round game last night was an 08.30 early morning start today. Brad Gushue's side was the only one of the five Canadian sides not to get a lie in this morning. Here they are in a tight end against Craig Reid's Galleon team.

Gushue was sharp, despite the early rise, drawing against three at first end! You can find all the Perth Masters scores here. The rest of these pics are from last night.

It was really great to see Christine Shaw back umpiring again, here with Alan Stanfield.

Norway's Thomas Ulsrud is here.

Never mind the discussions of eight ends v ten, most of yesterday evening's games were over after six. And some even less!

Italy's Joel Retornaz

Competition Chairman Peter Loudon was relaxed enough to enjoy his game last night.

Team Murdoch fron end Euan Byers and Peter Smith working hard. Murdoch had a hard game against the Hungarian champions last night after a couple of bad draws saw them surrender a three early. But they earned the extra hours in bed this morning.

Keith Prentice was unlucky with a pickup on a key stone in their game against Ulsrud's Norwegians last night.

Hungary in action.

Gordon Muirhead stepped in as sub for Tom Brewster in last night's game.

Team Glen Muirhead straight off the plane from Copenhagen and on to the ice at Perth... and continued their winning ways! That's Greg Drummond and Glen above.

Duncan Fernie playing last stones for Team Brewster, and his old skip Gordon Muirhead last night.
And this is the caption competition for today. Moray Combe is saying to David Edwards, "Skippy, I have this wee problem with my Rectus Femoris."

Ramada Perth Masters

Well, we made it to Perth today for the first session of the Masters, the rink looking really good. Here are a few pics to give you a taste. All the results are here.

Kerry Burtnyk's Canadians disposed of Jamie Dick's team without difficulty. Here Lindsay Gray gets excited over his skip's shot.

Hammy McMillan's side was in fine form.

They hardly allowed Norway's Thomas Due to get on the board.

Kevin Koe's retro outfits have attracted a lot of attention in Canada. The Ed appreciates them - he had a similar (blue) Ernie Richardson top in 1974!

Even the trousers are retro style - but not as wild as one team used to sport many years ago.

Yes, it's a Magnum. What a pity Blake MacDonald only uses it to slide with.

Caption competition this. Ross Paterson and Sandy Gilmour discuss the finer points of Perth nightlife with the Norwegian front end.

The agony. Craig Wilson.

Graeme Adam's senior champs were no match on the day for Wayne Middaugh's Canadians. Here Ken Horton encourages his sweepers.

Alex Mitchell gets the webcast studio set up. Find the stream here.

Bob Kelly and Kenny Edwards were doing the commentary yesterday.

The feed was shown directly on the big TV screen in the Dewar's rinks bar. Japan's Yusuke Morozumi defeated Graham Shaw in the first match to be broadcast.

Photos by Bob.

Heading for Perth

The Ramada Perth Masters, presented by West End Garage, is an event I always look forward to. Until recently it was the only WCT-e event in Scotland, although we have both the Edinburgh International and the Glynhill to enjoy now too. The thirty-two teams in the triple knockout draw at Perth begin play today at 16.45. I've mentioned before (here) the five Canadian teams - will they dominate I wonder - but the foreign visitors include teams from Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Hungary. That's Gyorgy Nagy, the Hungarian skip, above.

It's great to see the Hungarians at Perth. Gyorgy's team got the B division bronze at the Europeans recently. Welcome to Scotland. First up for the Hungarians are David Murdoch's European champions at 20.30 this evening.

It was two foreign teams which contested the Edinburgh International final last month. Scottish finalists at Perth? Murdoch? McMillan? Smith? Brewster? Edwards? They are all in the draw. We shall see on Sunday. The top eight from the A, B and C roads contest quarterfinals which are on the ice at 09.00 on Sunday morning.

Did you note too that I've deliberately used a pic of a curler wearing a black uniform at the top of the blog? My New Year resolution is to embrace black, rather than decry it. I think everyone should wear black. Black is back!

Perhaps though the commentators would not agree with my all black proposals. Yes the webcasting team are back this weekend. Copey is in charge of a microphone again!

For details and all the scores, check out the new design Perth Masters website here.

And let's not forget the girls. The International Bernese Ladies Cup has an entry of thirty-two teams. Two are Scottish, skipped by Sarah Reid and Gillian Howard. The GB Olympic squad is there too, Jackie Lockhart skipping this time, it being Kelly Wood's turn to sit out an event. Play begins at Berne at 08.00 on Friday.

Ramada Perth Masters update

We already posted here about the 'Canadian invasion' that will happen early in January. No fewer than five top Canadian teams are coming to Scotland for the Ramada Perth Masters at the Dewar's Rinks. The draw for the WCT-e event has now been published and can be found here.

The above poster is going out to all curling rinks, to persuade curling fans to put the dates, January 8-11, in their diaries, and come along and support the event. So how will the European teams deal with a Canadian invasion? I look forward to finding out!

Perth Masters set for Canadian invasion

Curling Today has already talked this season about the Edinburgh International Curling Championship sponsored by Belhaven Best and the Glynhill Ladies International at Braehead. But what about the other WCT-e event in Scotland this season, the Ramada Perth Masters?

The closing date for entries was September 30. Organiser Bill Duncan reports that the event will have one of best fields ever, with no fewer than five top Canadian rinks confirmed, skipped by Brad Gushue, Kerry Burtnyk, Wayne Middaugh, Brad Jacobs and Kevin Koe.

The young Japanese rink which performed so well in the competition last year is back again, and representatives from Hungary, Holland, Italy and Norway are in the draw.

All of the top Scottish teams will be participating including the GB Olympic squad.

There are no Swiss or Swedish competitors this season as the dates, January 8-11, clash with their national playdowns. The Perth Masters website is here.

Top: Canada's Brad Gushue (photo by Bob). Above: Japan's Yusuke Morozumi (photo by Richard Gray).

Perth: The Final

Well, it came down to an all Canada final at the Ramada Perth Masters! World Champion Team Glenn Howard faced Kerry Burtnyk's side for the top prize. All the results and linescores can be found here.

The entry of the gladiators, piped in by Eve Muirhead.

There were so many wanting to watch that the Dewar's Rinks arranged extra parking spaces. This is Glenn Howard avoiding the West End Garage traffic. He stole the first three ends.

Kerry Burtnyk checks that his equipment is in the correct hand! (That's an old 8-Ender broom he uses to slide with!)

Team Howard muscle a stone into the house. They took three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead.

Colourful they were but the Burtnyk four had to settle for second place on this visit to Scotland.

Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill with the Perth Masters trophy.

Pics by Bob.