Czechs shock Murdoch

It's opening day at the World Men's Curling Chapionship in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Canada's Kevin Martin had a bye in the opening draw. Former world champion David Murdoch from Scotland was taking on rookie Jiri Snitil from the Czech Republic.

After the Czech Republic's poor performance at the Women's Worlds, Snitil was looking to catch some teams off guard at the Men's worlds. But the Czechs got off to a slow start. With the hammer in the first end, they failed to generate two points, and settled for a single and gave up the hammer. However, Murdoch also could only manage a single point in the second.

From here on in, it was all Czech Republic. Snitil got his duce in the second, and kept the offense coming with a steal of two in the fourth.

Scotland settled down a bit after the steal, and picked up a point of his own to head into the fifth end break, trailing by a score of 5-2. They traded single points in each end, until Murdoch picked up two in the ninth. This allowed the Czechs to take a two point lead into the tenth end with the hammer. Snitil calmly kept the house clear and ran Murdoch out of rocks to complete the upset victory, 7-5

This wasn't the start the David Murdoch and his Scottish rink were looking for, but they'll have some time to forget about it. Scotland has a bye in the second draw, and will take to the ice against Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in Sunday's morning draw. For Jiri Snitil, the victory is huge. Heading into the tournament, the Czechs were expected to be in the tournament for little more than the experience. But after taking down one of the top teams, they've proven themselves as a team that's here to win.