Yes, a nice little win tonight and they are now on a respectable 2 and 2. Here's an interesting read taken from the daily webzine available on the official website;
Barr and Co., will be under the gun to improve upon Scotland’s record at Riga.
Muirhead was ruled out of her defence when the Royal Caledonian Curling Club decided to hold the Scottish championships last month during the Olympics.
“I’m disappointed,” Muirhead said upon learning of
the decision last July. “The governing body says they want
to give others a chance but I trained my ass off to become world champion.
“If other teams want to beat us then let them train and
practise harder and make themselves better to do it. They
say they want youth to come through but I’m only 23, so it’s not as if I’m an
old fogey.”
Muirhead, at 22, became the youngest female skip to win
the world championship last year.
“I know they want us to focus on the Olympics, but the
world championships are just as important,” said Muirhead.
“I would have given my right arm to have been world champion again.
Former RCCC president Robbie Scott said the decision by
Scots curling bosses was “shocking and embarrassing”.
He added: “It’s akin to Wimbledon telling Andy Murray he
can’t defend his title.
“Eve and her team are the best thing to have happened to
Scottish curling and this decision is an absolute disgrace.”
The RCCC explained its move in a website statement:
“The coaching team strongly recommend the athletes
who are selected for the 2014 Olympic Games do not compete in the 2014 world championship. This is to keep the
athletes selected for Sochi totally focused, to allow development for athletes not selected and to allow flexibility in the scheduling of the Scottish championship
Yes, a nice little win tonight and they are now on a respectable 2 and 2. Here's an interesting read taken from the daily webzine available on the official website;
Barr and Co., will be under the gun to improve upon Scotland’s record at Riga.
Muirhead was ruled out of her defence when the Royal Caledonian Curling Club decided to hold the Scottish championships last month during the Olympics.
“I’m disappointed,” Muirhead said upon learning of
the decision last July. “The governing body says they want
to give others a chance but I trained my ass off to become world champion.
“If other teams want to beat us then let them train and
practise harder and make themselves better to do it. They
say they want youth to come through but I’m only 23, so it’s not as if I’m an
old fogey.”
Muirhead, at 22, became the youngest female skip to win
the world championship last year.
“I know they want us to focus on the Olympics, but the
world championships are just as important,” said Muirhead.
“I would have given my right arm to have been world champion again.
Former RCCC president Robbie Scott said the decision by
Scots curling bosses was “shocking and embarrassing”.
He added: “It’s akin to Wimbledon telling Andy Murray he
can’t defend his title.
“Eve and her team are the best thing to have happened to
Scottish curling and this decision is an absolute disgrace.”
The RCCC explained its move in a website statement:
“The coaching team strongly recommend the athletes
who are selected for the 2014 Olympic Games do not compete in the 2014 world championship. This is to keep the
athletes selected for Sochi totally focused, to allow development for athletes not selected and to allow flexibility in the scheduling of the Scottish championship
Noted - and am aware of this.
But Barr and her team didn't make the rules - so don't hold it against them as they seem a great bunch! Its not easy for the other Scottish curlers to compete against the full time Olympians who get generous funding while they get little or no support.
Sweden aren't sending Team Edin to defend their world title either.
But Barr and her team didn't make the rules - so don't hold it against them as they seem a great bunch! Its not easy for the other Scottish curlers to compete against the full time Olympians who get generous funding while they get little or no support.
Sweden aren't sending Team Edin to defend their world title either.
I said on the Curling forum that Muirhead knew, and adhered to, the rules. Not her, or Barr's fault the system's in such a mess. Imagine if there was a huge cash prize for winning this, and due to *the system* Muirhead couldn't win it (and, of course, Murdoch/Brewster next week). If so, it could have got very messy and possibly end up in a courtroom?
Also if Barr did well, say made the play-offs, her success would be mitigated by many of the other rinks being "second-best". OK, Homer/Jones, either could win the worlds. Felscher/Ott?? Different matter. Where's Wang? Missing. Only the Swedes and the Russians of the top teams are at full strength.
Could you imagine the European Cup if Celtic won it, but next season they sent Queen Of The South instead? Not only the fans would be in uproar, so would the tV companies if mostly every team were that countries second-third best. Ironically, that actually happens I think in the European Cup, but the top teams do get a go as well!
What does it mean when the person who prepares the sheet likes to give the players 4 feet of curl?
If you play a shot straight down the centre line it can potentially deviate by that much by the time it reaches the button - depending on weight, sweeping etc.
Scots tried their best to hold on and steal the game off Sweden, but it was never really likely to happen despite actually putting Prytz under some pressure with her last stone in the 10th end; Scots stole one to draw, if Prytz had made a mess of it, Scots could have stole two or three to win the game. However, lets be clear: Sweden were in charge of the game almost from the start and deserved to win.
Hannah Fleming played third, didn't do much to improve the team stats, but she played better than Simms and took some pressure off Barr. Games against USA and Korea to come, still a slight chance to get that third victory.
Team Homan looks to be going into cruise mode. I think it's their Gold to lose.
Any sassenachs on here fancy watching England (and Scotland!!) play in the World Mixed on Saturday afternoon 26th April - Dumfries Ice Rink?
11.15 Fin/Sco and 1430 Eng/Kor. Would be nice to see some English support there!!
If you play a shot straight down the centre line it can potentially deviate by that much by the time it reaches the button - depending on weight, sweeping etc.
Thanks for clearing that up.
How do they do it? Is the ice slightly curved or is the droplets?
So we finish won 2 lost 9. probably the best as we could expect. Hopefully the men will get a higher position next week.
Today its Korea/Sweden in tie-break 1, presumably to meet Russia in TB2. If Sweden don't make the 3 - 4; it will be a big disappointment to them and wonder if this is the start of the slide, or even break-up considering the number of teams that aren't first choice?
In some ways I'm glad it's over for Scotland now, it's was becoming painfully inevitable waiting on the next defeat. I'm sure it was good experience for them and I hoped they learned a lot out of it. I'm guessing one of the lessons might be how to play better without the hammer, as they gave up two, and far too often three, shots which always put them under pressure and having to chase their opponents. I suppose it's just a harsh reality of playing at a level higher than they're used to.
Much the same might be said of the Dupont team from Denmark; I was surprised to see them struggle like that this week, but it's been quite a while since they were in a top international tournament so maybe they've dropped off the pace at that level a little too. It'll be no surprise if it's Lene Neilsen we see back for the Europeans next winter.
In some ways I'm glad it's over for Scotland now, it's was becoming painfully inevitable waiting on the next defeat. I'm sure it was good experience for them and I hoped they learned a lot out of it. I'm guessing one of the lessons might be how to play better without the hammer, as they gave up two, and far too often three, shots which always put them under pressure and having to chase their opponents. I suppose it's just a harsh reality of playing at a level higher than they're used to.
Its worth remembering that in 2011 the Scottish womens team came 9th in the world championships, they then came 5th in 2012 (albeit with a slightly different order) and won the title in 2013 followed by Olympic bronze. The names might sound familiar!
Skip: Anna Sloan
Third: Claire Hamilton
Second: Vicki Adams
Lead: Rhiann Macleod
Alternate: Eve Muirhead
Think what might have happened had we decided they weren’t good enough because of their poor performance at the 2011 worlds!
It was clearly a learning experience for Team Barr – but if you never give anyone else a chance you won’t develop any depth in the Scottish game. I expect the period up to the next Olympics will be about Eve vs Hannah Fleming and the right team mix – but who knows.
So when do we put up the thread for the mens event – and more importantly will it be on Eurosport and will they stream any games not involving China?!
Just as a follow up I see Eurosport have their schedule up.
No coverage of the mens worlds on the first weekend - and then its between 1 and 3 games on Eurosport the following week. Scotland are having two round robins broadcast - at lunchtime and late afternoon on Thursday 3rd April against Canada and Germany.
There will presumably be more games on the player and youtube?
So that's reassuring for future curling coverage - but someone needs to sort out the UK TV arrangements for when the worlds are in Canada. All rather odd why Eurosport shows only one and not the other - rotating annually.
Its worth remembering that in 2011 the Scottish womens team came 9th in the world championships, they then came 5th in 2012 (albeit with a slightly different order) and won the title in 2013 followed by Olympic bronze. The names might sound familiar!
Skip: Anna Sloan
Third: Claire Hamilton
Second: Vicki Adams
Lead: Rhiann Macleod
Alternate: Eve Muirhead
Think what might have happened had we decided they weren’t good enough because of their poor performance at the 2011 worlds!
It was clearly a learning experience for Team Barr – but if you never give anyone else a chance you won’t develop any depth in the Scottish game. I expect the period up to the next Olympics will be about Eve vs Hannah Fleming and the right team mix – but who knows.
So when do we put up the thread for the mens event – and more importantly will it be on Eurosport and will they stream any games not involving China?!
I get that about experience/position, but then it was (arguably) our best team. With respect to Barr, she's a further distance below Muirhead than Sloan was ahead of her nearest rival, and Kerry Barr's not far short of 30 now.
Think the problem arose when, after days of qualifying and almost winning everything in sight, Fleming failed at the last hurdle and Barr squeezed in.
But, would Fleming's rink have fared any better? We'll never know!!
It's a pity that we can't afford to fund more teams to give them the opportunity to get out and play more often against the top European and Canadian teams. As I said before there is such a difference from domestic competitions to the international tournaments.
I was watching Sport Relief on TV last night at the same time I was following the 1/2 play-off on youtube; it was ironic (and yes, still alittle aggravating) to see Eve pissing about with John Bishop while Rachel Homan took another step to taking away her title.
South Korea held their nerve after Russia and Sidorova had another wobbly day. It'll be a big match or them in the semi against Switzerland; I guess the odds are always going to be against them.
BTW thanks for telling us she was on Relief, must zip through the show on i-player. can't stand that Bishop though. Actually, Milton Jones aside, I don't find today's comedians in the slightest bit funny. Must be my age
Brilliant! I've really warmed to the Swiss this week, and Homan's face just gets longer and longer. Must admit the game turned on Homan's shot which defied gravity - really unlucky, but the Swiss took their chance and nailed it!
Brilliant! I've really warmed to the Swiss this week, and Homan's face just gets longer and longer. Must admit the game turned on Homan's shot which defied gravity - really unlucky, but the Swiss took their chance and nailed it!
Yes rather pleased as Homan comes across as a little spoilt brat and the Swiss were so happy.
Taking two threes though in ends 8 and 9 though was rather special. Until then it looked like a solid Canadian win.
I was quite glad to see Feltscher win. She was the winner of the Gynhill when I managed to go there and watch; funnily enough she beat another Canadian (Nedohin) to win that one too. She beat Homan twice so it's quite an emphatic victory.
It was a surprise though, even at the halfway break Homan looked well in control. Their coach came down and started the big "give it the best ten stones of your life" speech and "make them nervous" . All he did was make his own team nervous, lol. Rachel can play hits, even the difficult ones, all day long, but as soon as she was asked to play the draws the mistakes crept in and the the big crowd went very quiet, putting even more pressure on their next shot. As usual gracious in defeat wasn't an option, from what I saw there wasn't even a handshake at the end.
I was quite glad to see Feltscher win. She was the winner of the Gynhill when I managed to go there and watch; funnily enough she beat another Canadian (Nedohin) to win that one too. She beat Homan twice so it's quite an emphatic victory.
It was a surprise though, even at the halfway break Homan looked well in control. Their coach came down and started the big "give it the best ten stones of your life" speech and "make them nervous" . All he did was make his own team nervous, lol. Rachel can play hits, even the difficult ones, all day long, but as soon as she was asked to play the draws the mistakes crept in and the the big crowd went very quiet, putting even more pressure on their next shot. As usual gracious in defeat wasn't an option, from what I saw there wasn't even a handshake at the end.
Think to be fair to Homan the cameras simply watched the Swiss huddling themselves, there may well have been handshakes off-camera when all the commotion had died down.
Technical point - I was a bit disappointed with the Swiss deciding victory was theirs when they did. OK, the Canadians had run out of stones and couldn't score four.
Wait a minute....they had three left + one deep guard. Now, OK, in a million games you can't score four from that, as the Swiss would throw stuff away so any attempt at splitting the deep guard requiring bounces and ricochets off whatever was lying around wouldn't happen.
But, just like the end of a snooker game, protocol would have been a nod to the opposition skip that the game was up - after all, that guard could have been a yard closer to the house. Then what??
Of course, had there been no guard and three stones left...different matter entirely!
Comments
Barr and Co., will be under the gun to improve upon Scotland’s record at Riga.
Muirhead was ruled out of her defence when the Royal Caledonian Curling Club decided to hold the Scottish championships last month during the Olympics.
“I’m disappointed,” Muirhead said upon learning of
the decision last July. “The governing body says they want
to give others a chance but I trained my ass off to become world champion.
“If other teams want to beat us then let them train and
practise harder and make themselves better to do it. They
say they want youth to come through but I’m only 23, so it’s not as if I’m an
old fogey.”
Muirhead, at 22, became the youngest female skip to win
the world championship last year.
“I know they want us to focus on the Olympics, but the
world championships are just as important,” said Muirhead.
“I would have given my right arm to have been world champion again.
Former RCCC president Robbie Scott said the decision by
Scots curling bosses was “shocking and embarrassing”.
He added: “It’s akin to Wimbledon telling Andy Murray he
can’t defend his title.
“Eve and her team are the best thing to have happened to
Scottish curling and this decision is an absolute disgrace.”
The RCCC explained its move in a website statement:
“The coaching team strongly recommend the athletes
who are selected for the 2014 Olympic Games do not compete in the 2014 world championship. This is to keep the
athletes selected for Sochi totally focused, to allow development for athletes not selected and to allow flexibility in the scheduling of the Scottish championship
Noted - and am aware of this.
But Barr and her team didn't make the rules - so don't hold it against them as they seem a great bunch! Its not easy for the other Scottish curlers to compete against the full time Olympians who get generous funding while they get little or no support.
Sweden aren't sending Team Edin to defend their world title either.
I said on the Curling forum that Muirhead knew, and adhered to, the rules. Not her, or Barr's fault the system's in such a mess. Imagine if there was a huge cash prize for winning this, and due to *the system* Muirhead couldn't win it (and, of course, Murdoch/Brewster next week). If so, it could have got very messy and possibly end up in a courtroom?
Also if Barr did well, say made the play-offs, her success would be mitigated by many of the other rinks being "second-best". OK, Homer/Jones, either could win the worlds. Felscher/Ott?? Different matter. Where's Wang? Missing. Only the Swedes and the Russians of the top teams are at full strength.
Could you imagine the European Cup if Celtic won it, but next season they sent Queen Of The South instead? Not only the fans would be in uproar, so would the tV companies if mostly every team were that countries second-third best. Ironically, that actually happens I think in the European Cup, but the top teams do get a go as well!
If you play a shot straight down the centre line it can potentially deviate by that much by the time it reaches the button - depending on weight, sweeping etc.
Hannah Fleming played third, didn't do much to improve the team stats, but she played better than Simms and took some pressure off Barr. Games against USA and Korea to come, still a slight chance to get that third victory.
Team Homan looks to be going into cruise mode. I think it's their Gold to lose.
Been impressed by the Swiss, to think there's no Ott!!
Canada (Homan) 8 1
Switzerland 8 1
Russia (Sidorova) 7 2
Sweden (Sigfridsson) 7 2
Korea (Kim) 6 3
China 6 3
United States of America 5 4
Scotland (Barr) 2 7
Czech Republic (Kubeskova) 2 7
Latvia (Regza) 1 8
Denmark (Dupont) 1 8
Germany (Lehmann) 1 8
11.15 Fin/Sco and 1430 Eng/Kor. Would be nice to see some English support there!!
Thanks for clearing that up.
How do they do it? Is the ice slightly curved or is the droplets?
Looks like they will be in the semis with Canada and probably Sweden/Swiss or South Korea.
Don't know, it is something to do with the laws of physics that causes spinning objects sliding on ice to change direction as they slow down.
Today its Korea/Sweden in tie-break 1, presumably to meet Russia in TB2. If Sweden don't make the 3 - 4; it will be a big disappointment to them and wonder if this is the start of the slide, or even break-up considering the number of teams that aren't first choice?
Much the same might be said of the Dupont team from Denmark; I was surprised to see them struggle like that this week, but it's been quite a while since they were in a top international tournament so maybe they've dropped off the pace at that level a little too. It'll be no surprise if it's Lene Neilsen we see back for the Europeans next winter.
Its worth remembering that in 2011 the Scottish womens team came 9th in the world championships, they then came 5th in 2012 (albeit with a slightly different order) and won the title in 2013 followed by Olympic bronze. The names might sound familiar!
Skip: Anna Sloan
Third: Claire Hamilton
Second: Vicki Adams
Lead: Rhiann Macleod
Alternate: Eve Muirhead
Think what might have happened had we decided they weren’t good enough because of their poor performance at the 2011 worlds!
It was clearly a learning experience for Team Barr – but if you never give anyone else a chance you won’t develop any depth in the Scottish game. I expect the period up to the next Olympics will be about Eve vs Hannah Fleming and the right team mix – but who knows.
So when do we put up the thread for the mens event – and more importantly will it be on Eurosport and will they stream any games not involving China?!
No coverage of the mens worlds on the first weekend - and then its between 1 and 3 games on Eurosport the following week. Scotland are having two round robins broadcast - at lunchtime and late afternoon on Thursday 3rd April against Canada and Germany.
http://tv.eurosport.co.uk/tvschedule.shtml
There will presumably be more games on the player and youtube?
So that's reassuring for future curling coverage - but someone needs to sort out the UK TV arrangements for when the worlds are in Canada. All rather odd why Eurosport shows only one and not the other - rotating annually.
Think the problem arose when, after days of qualifying and almost winning everything in sight, Fleming failed at the last hurdle and Barr squeezed in.
But, would Fleming's rink have fared any better? We'll never know!!
I was watching Sport Relief on TV last night at the same time I was following the 1/2 play-off on youtube; it was ironic (and yes, still alittle aggravating) to see Eve pissing about with John Bishop while Rachel Homan took another step to taking away her title.
South Korea held their nerve after Russia and Sidorova had another wobbly day. It'll be a big match or them in the semi against Switzerland; I guess the odds are always going to be against them.
Our golden girl??:D
BTW thanks for telling us she was on Relief, must zip through the show on i-player. can't stand that Bishop though. Actually, Milton Jones aside, I don't find today's comedians in the slightest bit funny. Must be my age
I looked into it. Here's a nice video that tries to explain the physics of curling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CUojMQgDpM
C'mon Feltscher!!!
Yes rather pleased as Homan comes across as a little spoilt brat and the Swiss were so happy.
Taking two threes though in ends 8 and 9 though was rather special. Until then it looked like a solid Canadian win.
So onto Beijing now. Go team Ewan!:D
It was a surprise though, even at the halfway break Homan looked well in control. Their coach came down and started the big "give it the best ten stones of your life" speech and "make them nervous" . All he did was make his own team nervous, lol. Rachel can play hits, even the difficult ones, all day long, but as soon as she was asked to play the draws the mistakes crept in and the the big crowd went very quiet, putting even more pressure on their next shot. As usual gracious in defeat wasn't an option, from what I saw there wasn't even a handshake at the end.
Think to be fair to Homan the cameras simply watched the Swiss huddling themselves, there may well have been handshakes off-camera when all the commotion had died down.
Technical point - I was a bit disappointed with the Swiss deciding victory was theirs when they did. OK, the Canadians had run out of stones and couldn't score four.
Wait a minute....they had three left + one deep guard. Now, OK, in a million games you can't score four from that, as the Swiss would throw stuff away so any attempt at splitting the deep guard requiring bounces and ricochets off whatever was lying around wouldn't happen.
But, just like the end of a snooker game, protocol would have been a nod to the opposition skip that the game was up - after all, that guard could have been a yard closer to the house. Then what??
Of course, had there been no guard and three stones left...different matter entirely!