The Scots were against Thomas Dufour's French this afternoon and were in control for eight ends, one in front with last stone advantage. Then in the ninth they got themselves into a bit of a fankle, and gave up two shots against the head.In the tenth, Hammy drew to the French stone on the button to force the extra end!
Sometimes a game of curling can become high drama, and the eleventh end was all of that. Great shots were played, on both sides. But a pick-up on Hammy's first - when he was putting on a centre guard - spoilt what was looking a promising position for the steal. With his last, the Scottish skip had no other choice than to attempt to corner-freeze a French stone at the side of the four-foot. He was near perfectly played, but Tony Angiboust scraped past the guard, removing the Scottish stone.
After this round, with the Scotland-Sweden tie to come tomorrow, the standings are:
Switzerland 7-1
Germany 6-2
Norway 6-2
Denmark 5-3
Sweden 5-3
Scotland 4-4
France 3-5
Czech Republic 2-6
Netherlands 1-7
Russia 1-7
Looking to tomorrow, Germany plays Netherlands in the final game, the Czech Republic faces France, Denmark will be against Switzerland, and Russia plays Norway. The bottom two teams in the rankings will be relegated to the B Division next year. And the eighth ranked team will face a challenge for their World Championship place. Scotland well safe from this.
Indeed, if Scotland beats Sweden, and Denmark loses to Switzerland, three teams will be tied on 5-4 for the fourth playoff spot! There's still a chance.
I'm sure Sandy Gilmour has aged this week!
Ross Paterson
David Smith
David again.
Tony Angiboust who played fourth stones for the French.The main website is here, Curlit linescores, standings and stats here, Mike Haggerty's reports here and WCF daily updates are here.
Photos © Skip Cottage