SSS Open Round-Up
This weekend saw 14 Glasgow curlers in three teams taking to Stranraer for the SSS Curling Open, an annual event with the winners being crowned the Scottish Universities’ Champions. This is the premier event in Scottish Student Curling and is a fantastic event from both a curling and social perspective. There is a great standard of curling all-round and each and every game can very easily become a tense affair. However the social aspect is also there, with all the competitors chatting and having a laugh both on and off the ice.
Glasgow 1 (Alasdair Schreiber, Fraser Davidson, Ben Fowler and Jim Whittle) hoped to retain the title from last year’s championships and got off to a good start in their group, winning all three of their matches against RGU, Strathclyde 2 and the Glasgow-Strathclyde mixed team (with Glasgow curlers Fraser Baird and Nicola Riddall) to advance to the High Road quarter final stages as third seed for the competition.
Glasgow’s second team of Peter Dagen, Fraser Murray, Connor McIsaac and Josh Black were also looking to do well with real hopes of High Road qualification. They got off to a slightly shaky start but managed to win two of their four games in their group to move forward into the High Road Quarters, where they would face off against Edinburgh 4.
Glasgow’s third team of Andrew McGowan, Andrew McCluskey, Cristina Marin and Heather Thorburn also got off to an unsteady start in their group and were unable to pick up a win during the round robin play. However, that left them with more time to spend in the Jacuzzi and the bar, perhaps making them the real winners of the weekend!
Going into the quarter finals, Glasgow 2 took on Edinburgh 4, skipped by Calum McLean, in an incredibly close game with both sides playing some outstanding curling. In the last end, Glasgow 2 needed a steal of one point to take the game and advance to the semi-finals, however a couple of great shots from the Edinburgh side and one or two misses from Glasgow allowed Edinburgh 4 to score a few and beat Glasgow 2, putting Glasgow’s second team out of the High-Road.
In Glasgow 1’s game, they faced off against Edinburgh 2. Some very well played ends from Glasgow allowed for a number of stolen points and a big lead, with Edinburgh 2 conceding after 6 ends of play. With that, Glasgow 1 would move forward to the High-Road semi-final on Sunday morning, where they would meet Aberdeen 1.
Into Sunday morning and the semi-finals were taking place with Glasgow 1 facing Aberdeen 1, skipped by Fraser Kingan, and Edinburgh 4 playing against Strathclyde 1, skipped by Stuart Taylor. Should Glasgow and Strathclyde win their respective semi-finals it would mean a rematch of last year’s final – an intense rivalry if ever there was one!
The Edinburgh-Strathy game was a tight one going into the last few ends and went to an extra end after Edinburgh stealing a point in the 8th end. A miss on a tricky tap with hammer cost Strathclyde the semi-final and Edinburgh 4, in a bit of a shock result, advanced to the final.
In the Glasgow-Aberdeen game things were not looking so good either. Some misses on key shots and difficulties reading the ice had given Aberdeen a commanding 4-0 lead after three ends. A score of two in the fourth end narrowed the lead once more and some good play brought the score to 5-4 after six ends in Aberdeen’s favour.
The seventh end had Glasgow’s team looking to steal and level the scores going home. Some fantastic set up play and great shots from Glasgow applied the pressure to Aberdeen, causing a number of missed shots, leaving Glasgow sitting one buried with the hammer to come. Kingan’s last shot looked to be tight, however a small pick in the house caused it to drift out a touch, and just rubbing the Glasgow shot stone enough to take shot position.
With Glasgow now trailing 4 shots to 6, they needed to pick up two shots to force the extra end. Some good set-up play put the possibility of a score of two on the cards for Glasgow with one or two misses from Aberdeen’s front end. However a couple of great shots left Aberdeen sitting two with skip’s stones to come. With his first, Alasdair looked to draw for shot behind one of the Glaswegian corner guards. However, it came up a touch short and only sat for second shot. A well-executed peel by Kingan removed the Glasgow counter, meaning it was no longer possible for Glasgow to win.
The High-Road final would then be contested between McLean’s Edinburgh 4 and Kingan’s Aberdeen 1, with Edinburgh 4 going on to win the final and being crowned SSS Curling Champions for 2015. Many congratulations to Edinburgh 4’s team of Calum McLean, Gavin McQuistin, Sarah Sloan and Scott Cocker.
It was a fantastic weekend in Stranraer, both from a curling and social stand-point and, whilst Glasgow didn’t quite defend its title from 2014, the event was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Congratulations should also go to Andrew McCluskey for winning the race night and picking up £60 prize money. We also congratulate Ben Fowler on being elected as the SSS Curling Vice-President for 2015-16.
The club’s thanks also go out to SSS Curling for organising the event, to the North West Castle Hotel for hosting the event and to all the hotel and ice staff for their hospitality and making such a superb weekend.
