Team Edin was back in the hot air after the eventful and controversial Olympic tournament. And it was a victory right away when the WC started in Ogden, Utah, USA.
In the curling hall where the Olympic tournament in Salt Lake City was decided in 2002, Scotland was defeated 6–5 for the first time after a strong effort.
The match got one snowy end, when Scotland skipper Ross Whyte with his last stone was guilty of a double touch and the light on the stone glowed red.
The Scots suspected that there might be something wrong with the technique, but when an official determined that this was not the case, the stone was declared invalid and Niklas Edin never had to play his last stone.
– It was a good first match and super important with victory after what happened in the Olympics, Edin said in SVT’s live broadcast.
Scotland is represented in the WC, not by Team Bruce Mouat, which has been the dominant team in the curling world in recent seasons and took silver in the Olympics, but by Team Whyte, who are worthy replacements with, among other things, a recent Grand Slam victory in the bag.
Scotland is one of several nations in this World Cup who have chosen not to send their most meritorious team.
It was Lag Edin’s first game after the Olympic tournament, which was talked about for several reasons. Partly the fight in the match against the future gold medalists against Canada, partly the ninth place, which was the world’s most meritorious curling team’s worst ever in a major championship.
The Swedes have analyzed the failure and had made a small change in the WC premiere, where vice-skipper Oskar Eriksson left certain tactical tasks to number one Christoffer Sundgren.
It was an even match, where Sweden with the hammer, last stone in the first round, opened with a two-pointer, but where the Scots immediately countered by taking a third.
Sweden managed to steal a point in the fourth and at halftime the score was 4–4. Scotland had the opportunity to take the initiative, but only managed to equalize the Swedish lead at 5–5 in the eighth round.
When Niklas Edin then succeeded with a double strikeout and ended the ninth round, Sweden had the advantage of the last rock in the tenth. The Scottish ace meant that Edin never had to play it.
The Swedish one the skipper was almost faultless in the match and very satisfied with the team effort.
– We weren’t really sure about the stones in the first match, but we knew that if we can play at 90 percent we will have a good chance to win, he said.
In the next round on Saturday, Italy awaits.
