"Haggis gets a bad rap"

If you have a spare twenty minutes this weekend, then have a listen to Dean Gemmell's interview with David Murdoch on The Curling Show.

The relaxed Murdoch talks about team selection, practice, his daily routine as a professional curler, promotion of the sport in Scotland, blue blazers, and representing GB, as well as many other things. How do you think he responds when asked about Vernon - the Watergate of Scottish Curling? Listen in and find out!

If you have heard The Curling Show before, you will be used to Gemmell's style. If not, then you might find the whole thing a bit odd. But David handles the interview with his usual professionalism, and listening to it will be revealing to those who don't know him as a person.

David Murdoch pic by Bob.

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.

Athlete of the Year nomination

David Murdoch has been nominated by British Curling as Athlete of the Year.

The citation says, "David Murdoch is 30 and lives in Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. David comes from a family with a long tradition in curling, he has been curling for twenty years. David has had a great curling career. He won his first title as World Junior Champion in 1995, he got another gold the following year but had to settle for silver in 1998.

He won the Scottish Men's Championship in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008. That took him to World Championships getting silver in 2005 and 2008, he won the gold medal in 2006. He has won the European Championships twice in 2003 and 2007.

David competed at the Olympic Games in 2006 taking fourth spot, he's aiming for Gold in 2010. David said, 'I have had a fantastic year winning the European Championships in 2007 and getting silver at the World Championship in 2008. I am looking forward to competing at the Olympics in Vancouver 2010.'"

The nominated athletes are invited to the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Award Ceremony. David won’t be able to attend, as he’ll be on his way home from the European Curling Championship just before traveling to Canada for the Continental Cup.

The Athlete of the Year Award is encouraged by the British Olympic Association, and all the governing bodies of Olympic sports have the opportunity to nominate an athlete from their discipline. The nomination for British Curling was decided by a panel based on results
from statistics from World and European Championships 2007/2008.

The photo of David Murdoch in O'Vik is by Hugh Stewart.

European qualifiers 1

It was first blood to Murdoch as the European Qualifying Competition got underway this afternoon at the Dewars Rinks in Perth. The only game on the ice was the David Murdoch v Tom Brewster match, and it was an intriguing encounter.

The teams swapped threes in the first two ends! Murdoch, Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith and Euan Byers took another three in the third. They looked confident and were playing well.

Brewster with his new third for this season in Duncan Fernie, and his long standing front end Ron Brewster and Colin Campbell, were up against it again in the fourth. Tom went to play his last with four Murdoch stones lying against him. He could only outcount three of these, and gave up a single to go 7-3 down.

Most felt it might be all over then, and so it turned out. The sides swapped twos, but when Tom was too heavy with Murdoch stones in the house against him in the seventh, the teams shook hands, the score at 11-5.

Find the linescores and standings on the Royal Club website here.

Above: Tom Brewster and David Murdoch. Pic by Bob. More photos after this evening's games.

To see ourselves as others see us

You may not yet be a regular reader of curlingscoops.com, but do check it out! Brad Norman has a thread on the site profiling the Road to Vancouver 2010. I mention this today because he has just put up an article about David Murdoch. I expect that many hacks will be writing about the Lockerbie skip as the Vancouver Olympics draw closer. Let's call this the first of many to come. The article is here. I think you will find it interesting.

Just for the record, I prefer mint chocolate chip on a sugar cone, but I can always be persuaded to try anything once!

On other things, I note that the Royal Club is looking for someone to become a representative at the WCF meetings. All the detail is here. Currently the three other reps are Jeanette Johnston, Hew Chalmers and President Matt Murdoch.

Did you notice too that the draw for the European Qualifying Competition at the Dewars Rinks in Perth, October 24-26, is on the Royal Club website (here). David Murdoch's team is listed as Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith and Euan Byers. Warwick Smith, Craig Wilson, David Smith and Ross Hepburn and Tom Brewster, Duncan Fernie, Ron Brewster and Colin Campbell will be trying to upset Murdoch's hope of defending his European title in O'vik in December. The Qualifying Competition is a double round robin of these three teams, the winning side going to Sweden.

Kelly Wood and Edith Loudon face off in the women's qualifying, best of five games.

And finally I'm pleased to say that the October Scottish Curler magazine was safely delivered to the publishers Clyde and Forth Press in Dunfermline today. It will take a couple of weeks before it starts to drop through subscribers' letterboxes. There's lots in it (dare I say as usual), and the first issue of the new season has the promised article by new Board Chairman Bob Tait. One down, seven to go. This season the team want to hear more of what is going on in YOUR curling club and curling rink. The magazine is for everyone. More on this later.

Baden Masters on tomorrow

David Murdoch and his team of Graeme Connal, Craig Wilson and Euan Byers have their first game in the Baden Masters WCT-e event tomorrow (Friday) at 10.20. The Scottish team face Manuel Ruch's Swiss side in the first round of the sixteen team triple knockout event.

There are no Canadian teams in the draw. Paul J. Vogler, the President of CC Baden Regio, offers this explanation in the event programme (which can be downloaded from here). "It is a great shame that the three Canadian teams have had to pull out of the tournament at short notice due to the sharp rise in the price of the air tickets, and as a result will not be able to pit themselves against the other top class international teams from Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Sweden and Switzerland."

Really?

The event website for results is here.

And if you are interested in Fantasy Curling, CurlingZone is trialling a new system with the Baden Masters event, sign up here.

David Murdoch. Photo by Bob.

Scots in Russia

The Warsaw Express shopping mall, venue for the St. Petersburg Adamant Curling Cup. Eight teams, six end games, find the results here.

Making sure everyone knows what's going on - morning press conference, with six television stations and about thirty reporters.

The curling celebrities answer questions.

Time for relaxation on the river. An evening cruise was the first social event.

St Petersburg by night.

Back to the day job! Team Murdoch won their first game against a local Russian side.

Euan Byers, David Murdoch and Peter Smith, with the railway museum as the backdrop.

Not something you see every day!

Thanks to WCT-e Director Armin Harder for the photos.

Team Murdoch invited to demonstration event in Russia

A shopping mall in St Petersburgh, Russia, will be the venue for a demonstration international curling event, July 25-27. New curling sponsor Adamant, a large property management and development company, is behind the promotional event in association with the World Curling Tour-Europe.

The tournament will be held in one of Adamant's shopping centres on a permanent ice surface therein. Photos of what it is like are here.

Participating teams will be skipped by Murdoch, Brad Gushue, Paal Trulsen, Thomas Ulsrud and Andi Kapp, as well as local teams.

This is a demonstration event only, so no Tour points will be awarded. The organisers have planned for several four-end games. Some social events, sightseeing and media events have been organized for the players.

WCT-e Director Armin Harder tells Curling Today that Adamant has signed a long term contract with the European Tour that will see a yearly WCT-e tournament in Russia beginning in season 2009-10.

Murdoch, who is a WCT-e players' representative, will take his team, the current European Champions and runners-up at the World Championship at Grand Forks: Graeme Connal, Peter Smith and Euan Byers. He says, "We are all looking forward to playing in St Petersburg. It's probably a once in a lifetime chance to play in such a historic city. The ice could be interesting thoough, being in a shopping centre and it being the end of July!"

The provisional dates of other WCT-e competitions this coming season are now available on the WCT-e website.

Elsewhere on the Curling in Russia site (here) there is an extensive photo gallery of curling in that country.

Team Murdoch at Grand Forks by Hugh Stewart. L-R: David Murdoch, Graeme Connal, Peter Smith, Euan Byers.

World Silver Medallists home

Long journey from Grand Forks, North Dakota, but the Scottish team was in good form as they got back into Edinburgh today. World silver medals prominently displayed, David Murdoch, Graeme Connal, Peter Smith, Euan Byers and fifth Peter Loudon were nevertheless disappointed that it was not gold round their necks. Mark of true champions that second best is not good enough! I'm impressed.

Still, first in Europe, Scottish Champions, and now second in the world, is quite a season's accomplishment. Very well done to the team. Scottish curling is proud of you!

L-R: Peter Loudon, David Murdoch, Graeme Connal, Peter Smith and Euan Byers. Photo by Bob.

Fussen pics 5: Scotland's men

Euan Byers

Peter Smith

Graeme Connal

David Murdoch

Back L-R: Peter Smith (2nd), Peter Loudon (alternate), David Hay (Team Coach)
Front: Euan Byers (lead), Graeme Connal (3rd), David Murdoch (skip), Derek Brown (National Coach)

Team Murdoch for Fussen

Now here's the story. End one - Warwick Smith loses a four to Gordon Muirhead. The only positive to that is, if you are going to lose a four, then the first end is the best end to lose it in. But it was going to be an uphill battle and it only went seven ends when Warwick conceded, down 10-4.

On the adjacent sheet Tom Brewster and his team of Hammy McMillan, Ron Brewster and Colin Campbell were playing their best game of the weekend. David Murdoch and his team were on top form too - it was a pity that it didn't really matter. With Warwick getting beaten, Murdoch was going to Germany anyway. Still it was enthralling to watch. It was just everything a great game of curling should be. David drew the button to save losing a two at the sixth, Tom did likewise at the seventh. The sides were in the eighth when Warwick conceded on the next sheet, so with the score at peels at 5-5, they shoot hands!

David Murdoch, Graeme Connal, Pete Smith and Euan Byers will be Scotland's representatives at the European Championships.

Top: L-R Euan, David, Pete, Graeme
Above: David Murdoch delivery; Hammy shouts as David and Graeme watch; Tom Brewster
Photos by Bob Cowan

PS Final verdict on the ice. Good! You could play curling on it, and that's how it should be in every rink in Scotland! Pity it's not. Yes, I am getting old and crabbity. Well done to the Scottish Institute of Sport for arranging to bring Hans Wuthrich across. The staff at Perth certainly took the opportunity to learn from him.