Canadian mens curling captain Kevin Martin delivered the shot that took his
team to a 2-0 start in the first end of the round robin men's curling
competition against Germany Tuesday night, but the lead was short lived as the
Germans came back hard in the third, leveling the score.
Needing a pinpoint
shot with the Canadian rock leaning against the German stone in the middle of
the house, Holger Hohne threaded the needle and nudged the red rock away for a
two stone comebacker.

Germany appeared set to push ahead in the fourth, with a pair of rocks
sitting in the house behind a maze of others, but Martin unleashed a shotgun
slide that dodged everything and battered the German stones homeless.

The fifth end saw Germany again setting the pace before Canada's John
Morris pulled off a quadruple-takeout, bumping a chain of four German stones out
of the house. With Canada holding a rock in the four-foot, the Germans couldn't
get past the blockers, leaving Kevin Martin to slide in with a second
point.

In the sixth, Martin once again rolled out a stone with eyes, nudging one
of four Canadian stones through a minefield to take out the lead German rock.
That left Andreas Kapp a tough shot to score - "The stone would have to breathe
in," muttered Martin as the German prepared to send down the final rock of the
end, but Kapp was up to the task, stopping his shot on a dime and taking the
point to bring Germany one behind at 4-3.
The Canadians caught a few breaks
and cleared away in the 7th after Martin once again pulled a heroic shot out of
the fire at the last.

Faced with a line of blockers and a German rock well hidden by them in the
house, Martin pounded one of his own blockers, hitting the angle perfectly to
zero in on the lead rock some ten metres further down the line, clearing it out
and leaving Canada with three points.
Germany picked up a point in the 8th,
but another pair for Canada in the 9th put it out of reach in comfortable
fashion for the home team: Canada wins 9-4.

In the United States vs Norway game taking place at the same time, the
Norwegians jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second end but the US leveled after
four in what turned into a back and forth battle royale. Going into the final
end, the score was 5-4 to the US as a lone American jumped to his feet and
yelled, "Let's-go-U-S-A" repeatedly, only to be drowned out by the rest of the
crowd responding with "Let's-go-Nor-way" in response to every
chorus.
Eventually the American fan stopped yelling.

The yelling wasn't for nothing - in the 10th, the Norwegians found a little
bit extra, pegging the score back to 5-5 with a single point and ushing into
extras.
Also playing out at the same time, France and China fought another
close battle, with China storming back from 4-1 down to level scores after eight
and taking a one-point lead in the 9th.
Earlier today, Canada pipped Norway
7-6 in the men's round robin. Canada took the women's game against Switzerland
5-4.

Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland, and United States started the men's curling competition.
Curling
events are being held at the Vancouver Olympic Centre. Please refer to the full
schedule for both men's and women's curling for the times and dates.

Owner article: vancouversun.com