SCOTLAND'S senior men are aiming to emulate their younger counterparts at the World Curling Championships which get under way in New Zealand this weekend. After Scotland defeated hosts and reigning champions Canada in a dramatic World Championship final a fortnight ago, skip Keith Prentice will be hoping that his side can repeat their success of 2007 when they did exactly the same thing.
Having earned the right to represent their country after winning the Scottish Championships in February, the men begin their campaign against the holders and pre-tournament favourites Canada before taking on Australia, England and Hungary in the grou
p stages.
Prentice, along with team-mates Robin Aitken, Archie Craig, Tommy Fleming and Lockhart Steele, will be looking to round off the curling season in style with victory in Dunedin and Aitken admitted that the side are keen to follow in the footsteps of David Murdoch's title-winning side.
He said: "They did well to win and it puts the pressure on us. It's good that they did so well and hopefully we can do likewise. They play at a much higher standard however; it's a different ball game at senior level.
"Preparations have gone well; we had our final practice last week and we are ready to go. We'll be very disappointed if we don't make the semi-finals and we are hoping to come back with the gold medal.
"Canada will be favourites, as they always are, but we did win it in 2007 and they were favourites then. Switzerland, Sweden and the United States will be our other main rivals and I expect four of the five sides to be in the semi- finals."
Aitken has fond memories of winning the gold medal two years ago and is determined to help Scotland regain the title after his side failed to make it to the competition last year.
He added: "It was a different team that represented Scotland last year as we lost in the semi-finals of the Scottish Championships and they finished fourth in Finland. Winning the gold medal in Edmonton was certainly the high point of my career. To beat Canada in Canada was tremendous."
This year's event will see four fewer teams competing as financial constraints have meant that the self-funding sides cannot afford to travel to New Zealand, but Scotland will still have their work cut out if they are to ensure that they keep the sport in the headlines.
The full article contains 415 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
