Stoughton wins opener over Switzerland

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 6:04 PM CDT Saturday, Apr. 2, 2011

REGINA — Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton got started on a winning note here at the 2011 World Men’s Curling Championship, dropping Switzerland’s Christof Schwaller 8-4 on the opening draw Saturday afternoon.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/04/2011 (5592 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The game turned on a fifth end steal of three by Canada’s Stoughton when Schwaller crashed out front with the final stone of the end.

It wasn’t a vintage performance by the Stoughton foursome, but it was good enough as Canada shot 82 percent as a team, while third Jon Mead shot just 71 percent.

Troy Fleece / Postmedia News
Team Canada skip Jeff Stoughton throws his rock against team Switzerland in the opening draw of the world men's curling championships on Saturday in Regina. — Troy Fleece / Postmedia News Team Canada skip Jeff Stoughton throws his rock against team Switzerland in the opening draw of the world men's curling championships on Saturday in Regina.

The game was marked by the rarity of three rock measures. Canada won two of them.

“We had a bit of a struggle out there,” Stoughton said afterward, “just getting sort of used to the atmosphere and the rocks and the ice. Once we got on to it a little bit better, we made some shots. Still a little sloppy, but all-in-all it’s still a win.

“We might have been a bit nervous. I certainly was excited….I don’t think my heart got down below a hundred until about the fourth end.”

Stoughton said he was unconcerned by the performance of Mead, who was the all-star third at last month’s Brier. “He was just a little off. It didn’t look bad but he didn’t get great results. We’ll go from there — I’m not worried, that’s for sure.”

In other games on the opening draw, USA’s Pete Fenson defeated Denmark’s Tommy Stjerne 7-4; France’s Thomas Dufour defeated Czech Republic’s Jiri Snitil 9-5; and 2010 Olympic silver medallist Thomas Ulsrud of Norway dodged a bullet, stealing the ninth, tenth and extra ends to defeat Korea’s Dong Keun Lee 8-7 and avoid what would have been a monstrous upset.

Canada plays again on the Saturday evening draw, taking on Denmark’s Stjerne.