Leslie Ingram-Brown reports from Erzurum:GBR MEN INTO SEMIFINALS ALONG WITH THE WOMEN
Norway won the Last Stone Draw and with the hammer blanked the first end but after Glen had dropped his second stone draw on top of a Norwegian counter in the back twelve Hoeiberg was forced to draw for the single.
GBR blanked the third and after Glen had tapped back for 3 in the fourth the final Norwegian stone of the end appeared to pick and lost its direction and GBR had the control. Norway reduced the deficit to one shot when drawing for a single against two in the fifth. Half time 3-2 to GBR.
Sixth and Norway achieved their only steal of the game before giving up 2 shots in the seventh when Glen going for a hit for three shots hits the wrong side of the target stone and rolls out but still counts 2 and steals in the eighth after drawing the pot lid behind guards. It's back to the Europeans in Chamonix that any have rivalled Hammy McMillan with an out-turn raise for shot.
Ninth and Norway takes the game into the final end with a tap back for a single but GBR are in full control and aided by a touched running stone by Norway they concede as they run out of stones.
There is still work for Glen and his team to do as they must beat Switzerland in their last round robin game to secure the hammer in their semifinal game.
Afterwards Glen admitted that his team had the breaks as Norway had suffered bad pick-ups in the fourth and fifth ends. He was not fazed by the task against Switzerland and the team are playing well.
Coach and father, Gordon, said, "The boys are playing very consistently. The rubs went our way in that game. The boys are playing 80% and its going to take good curling to beat us."
And finally a word on Host Nation Turkey's curling team who won their first true international match defeating Slovenia 9-3 in eight ends. They are the new kids on the block with little more than a year's curling between them but despite their defeats they have kept smiling and kept the Spirit of the Game alive.
TEAMS
Norway: Markus Hoeiberg, Steffen Walstrad, Hans-Roger Toemmervold, Frode Bjerke
Great Britain: Glen Muirhead, Alasdair Guthrie, Kerr Drummond, Michael Goodfellow
SCORELINE
NOR* 01001 1001X = 4
GBR 00030 0210X = 6
SCORES
Great Britain 6 Norway 4, Czech Republic 5 USA 4, Switzerland 7 Sweden 4, Canada 7 Sweden 4, Turkey 9 Slovenia 3.
STANDINGS AFTER 8 GAMES
7/1 - Great Britain; 6/2 - Czech Republic, Korea, Switzerland; 5/3 - Canada; 3/5 - Norway, Sweden, USA; 1/7 Turkey; 0/8 Slovenia.
The official event website is here.
Top photo: Alasdair and Glen watch, the Norwegians following the colourful path! Above: Famous victory for the host nation. Photos courtesy of Leslie Ingram-Brown.