Murdoch bounces back

Scotland are guaranteed at least a bronze medal, as there is no third-place playoff in the ECC format.

Murdoch - the defending world champion and the 2003 European champion - led Ireland's Robin Gray 5-0 after just three ends, and finished the match after six.

The Scots lead the field at 7-1 with one match still to play. Tuesday night they lost for the first time, 9-7 to Denmark.

"It's good to get back on top, that was the plan today," Murdoch said.

"We wanted to make sure we got the win to guarantee one-two for the playoffs."

The squad's first goal of finishing in the top seven - to qualify for March's Ford World Championships in Edmonton, Canada - was met long ago.

Now, with a podium finish assured, the personable full-time curler from Lockerbie has his sights on gold.

"Oh yeah, we're not here to come into any other position," Murdoch said. "We're on track, we're here to win."

Amazingly, the squad is still without some luggage lost on Thursday, after a series of travel misadventures.

Long gone is the broom bag and its cargo of carbon-fibre and nylon brushes, worth about USD $300 each.

After borrowing the Swiss women's teams brushes to start the week, the exasperated Scots purchased new weapons and are tempted to send the bill to the offending airline.

In other matches, Germany's Sebastian Stock made a sharp angle-raise takout to score three and eventually dispatch Switzerland's Andreas Schwaller 6-3, while France's Thomas Dufour walloped Finland's Markku Uusipaavalniemi 6-2.

Norway's Thomas Ulsrud was also a winner, 7-5 over Adrian Meikle of Wales, and Sweden's Per Carlsen beat Johnny Frederiksen of Denmark 7-5.

The Swiss hold second place at 6-2, while Germany, Norway and Sweden are third at 5-3. Finland is at 4-4 with only an outside shot at qualifying for a playoff spot.

In women's play, Russia continued their relentless March to Friday's playoffs with a 9-6 win over veteran Andrea Schöpp of Germany.

Russia has won all eight games without a loss, while Germany is now mired in a four-way tie for second place with Italy, Switzerland and Sweden. Denmark and Scotland, represented by 2002 Olympic champion Rhona Martin, are both at 4-4.

Switzerland's Mirjam Ott has won five in a row after opening with three losses, but her team is still searching for consistency.

Things got downright strange in the morning draw. While delivering her winning shot against the Netherlands, Ott fell down during her delivery and sprawled across the ice.

The resulting miss handed the shocked Dutch a steal of three points and forced an extra-end. Ott, however, recovered her composure to win the game 6-5.