There is so much to tell from Basel today that I think we had better divide it into 2 - I will do the interesting stuff first and later, after I have had my dinner and maybe a glass or two of wine, I shall try and guide you through the happenings at the first of the WCF Open Meetings today.
On the ice I went to see the afternoon session and in particular my first look at Canada, the USA, Germany and France. The US game against Norway is quickly dealt with as Norway opened up a 5-1 lead which was never really threatened by the inexperienced US side.
On the next sheet it looked as though New Zealand were also heading for an early bath as after two blank ends Germany scored a 3 and a 2 to be well in control. Then the fightback began and when the German skip failed to force Peter de Boer to play his last stone it capped an incredible 8-6 win for the Kiwis who are now on 3 wins and 3 losses.
Canada v Denmark was a close game but I did see Glenn Howard make a mistake!!! However some later great shotmaking by the Canadians gave them their seventh win in a row and, with Sweden losing heavily to the USA this morning, they are now the only undefeated team.
While the Scots from down under celebrated, the home Scots suffered a sad defeat at the hands of the French. All looked good early on but after Tony Angiboust saved his team from losing a 4 at the 5th end it all seemed to become very difficult for Tom Brewster and his team. I think Tom could possibly have drawn with his last shot to force the extra end but he went for the win and his angled raised take-out missed narrowly to drop the team down to 2 losses and into a clear 4th place in the standings.
Spotted in the crowd today were Eve Muirhead and her team who have come over to add some Scottish support while today has also seen the arrival of Bruce Crawford and the other WCF Representatives from Scotland.
An interesting cameo was the sight of former Scottish Head Coach, Derek Brown, chatting to Eve and others as he is here in his role as USA Head Coach.
Hopefully more later - but don't expect an easy read!!
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