Scotland evens up record against France

After a disappointing opening day loss to the Czech Republic, David Murdoch of Scotland has been struggling to get of a role in hopes of once against becoming world champion. France's Thomas Dufour has been the polar opposite. Heading into the competition as an underdog, the France squad has turned some heads, having won two big games already.

This game opened up ideally for France. The French team grabbed their duce in the first end, and kept the offense coming with a steal in the second. Not to be outdone, Scotland answered back by mirroring France's start: scoring a duce in the third, and stealing a single in the fourth.

The fifth end was blanked to head into the break tied up at 3-3. The sixth was another blank, as Scotland's secnd and third (Peter Smith and Graeme Connal) were shooting in the 90% range and prevented France was setting up anything worthwhile.

In the sixth, there was finally a point dished out. Murdoch made a beautiful shot to put a stone in the ideal position. French skip Thomas Dufour couldn't remove the stone, and Scotland got another steal to go ahead by one point.

After France tied it up in the eighth, Murdoch decided to play the ninth end very cleanly. Heading into the tenth end all tied up with the hammer seemed like a good scenario for the Scottish skip, so he opted to blank the ninth end. The strategy paid off, as Scotland grabbed their single point in the tenth to earn the 5-4 victory.

The win evens up Scotland's record at 2-2, moving them into a crowded tie with France, the Czech Republic, and Norway.