World-beating Scots curlers home from Canada to a heroes' welcome

THEY flew out to Moncton, New Brunswick as contenders, perhaps no more than quietly hopeful of making their mark. They flew back from Canada as world champions, and arguably the best team in the history of Scottish curling.

David Murdoch – the first Scots skip to win two world titles – and his team of Ewan MacDonald, Euan Byers, Pete Smith, and Graeme Connal did things the hard way. They defeated the hosts and favourites not once but three times, culminating in a final on Sunday night in which they held their collective nerve to come back from behind.

Friends and families were out in force at Edinburgh Airport yesterday to welcome the team home, and it was a delighted if exhausted Murdoch who emerged from the connecting flight from Heathrow.

"We train hard and play hard," he said when asked if there was any secret to the team's success.

"Every one of those guys says 'I'm going to make every shot' and that instils a lot of confidence in you.

"It was pure hard work and concentration. You have to focus on every shot. You just have to work really hard."

Told that people were beginning to talk of this as the best Scottish team ever, he said he did not want to speculate along such lines, but did admit to having been very proud of beating the Canadians.

"That's quite a compliment," he continued. "It's nice to hear, but it's not something I'm going to think about.

"It was something special to beat a team like that three times. No-one else in the world could even beat that team, so to do it three times was incredible.

"We've got a big goal next year and that's the Olympic Games, so we want to be sure we're fit for that. You have to train hard – we'll have to make sure we're in the gym.

"We've got a lot of competitions next year and we're going to make sure we practice really hard.

"It's there for us if we want it. We have to make sure that we put ourselves in the frame."

The first to be able to congratulate the team, had been Matt Murdoch, David's father, who as president of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club had had the ceremonial honour of presenting the medals to the Scots in the Moncton Coliseum.

"I've been fortunate enough to have presented David with a medal at a major championship three times now," said Murdoch.

He added: "It's a tremendous team. They never give in.

"And to come from behind in the last game, and to beat Canada in Canada – and to beat one of the best teams we've ever seen from Canada – that's the main point we want to put over. To beat a Canadian team in Canada is very difficult.

"It's maybe difficult for me to say as a parent, but I think general supporters will say it's the best team they've seen."

Connal, the reserve or alternate as the position is known in curling, was on hand throughout the tournament, ready to step in if someone took ill or someone suffered a drastic loss of form.

As it turned out he was not required, but he still played his part in helping the team prepare. "It was absolutely fantastic just to be there and I'm proud to have been a part of it," Connal said.

"The boys played well all week from start to finish, and I think they proved they were the best team there by beating Canada three times. I don't think that has ever happened before to that Canadian team. After you beat them twice you get a lot more confidence and obviously their confidence tends to sink a wee bit. You could see that in the Canadians.

"I don't think they suspected any team was capable of beating them once, never mind twice or three times.

"The big psychological boost was beating them that second time. When that happened I think it gave us the edge in the final. I think the four guys are definitely going to be selected now for the Olympics. They've proved themselves to be a great team.

"There's a lot of time between now and then, and a lot of practice to be done before then. But it will certainly boost the guys' confidence, the fact they've done so well over the past week. It's a platform for the next stage."

That next stage will again be in Canada. The Olympics take place in Vancouver from 12 to 28 February next year.