Martin gets in groove for Scots

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This article was published 12/04/2009 (6265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONCTON, N.B. — The challenge is simple and clearly defined: Canada’s Kevin Martin needs only to beat David Murdoch of Scotland tonight at the Moncton Coliseum to claim a second consecutive gold medal at the Ford world men’s curling championship.

For Martin and his half-Edmonton (Martin, second Marc Kennedy), half-Calgary (third John Morris, lead Ben Hebert) rink, doing that is anything but simple and clearly defined after two frustrating losses in succession to the Scots here.

But Martin stepped off the ice early Saturday evening at the Coliseum after his 6-5 semifinal triumph over Markus Eggler of Switzerland, a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score, knowing he had approximately 24 hours to figure out how to keep Murdoch from a third straight win and a second world title in four years.

“Well, playing like that would help, for sure,” said Martin, who was scored at 90 per cent on Saturday, while his team was at 93 per cent. “We didn’t put up much of a fight against (Scotland) the last two games. So come out with a game something like this and we should be OK.”

What was clear in Saturday’s win was that Martin had rediscovered his comfort level on the Coliseum ice after two days of griping about what he considered suspect rocks and ice conditions.

None of that was in evidence against the Swiss, and Martin and his team were back in the form that had propelled them to 10 straight victories on the heels of 13 straight to claim the Brier crown last month at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Martin, however, did follow through on a suggestion made after Friday night’s loss to play a relatively conservative first few ends Saturday before turning up the pressure in the back half of the game, beginning with the sixth end, when, thanks to two picture-perfect freezes from Kennedy, he finished off a three-ender with a delicate tap of a partially buried Swiss rock.

The improved play, suggested Martin, was the direct result of having more confidence in the ice conditions put together by icemaker Hans Wuthrich for the semi.

Switzerland will take on Norway in the bronze-medal game this afternoon, a rematch of Saturday’s Page three-four game, won by the Swiss.

Canada will be looking for its 32nd world men’s championship in the 51-year history of the event, while Scotland is aiming for its sixth world title.

— Canwest News Service