CARSTAIRS -- In a story straight out of the movies, a plucky band of curlers from a small town in Alberta took on the Russian champions and almost beat them.
Skip Kerry Meyers said it was a great experience for him and his Carstairs all-stars playing the Russia team on March 27 at the Carstairs Curling Club, falling 6-4.
Curling with Meyers were third Tim Jochems, second Steven Lucas and lead Brad Plett.
"It was a lot of fun," said Meyers. "It was good to play against a team like that that we'll probably see on TV next week at the world championships. They're very good curlers. It was a good experience. There were a lot of people there watching."
The Russian team, skipped by Sergey Glukhov, has been staying in Didsbury and practising at the Carstairs club all week before travelling down to Lethbridge to participate in the 2019 World Men's Curling Championships, which will be held March 30 - April 7.
"We had a really good game," he said. "Everybody curled pretty well. We kept it close. We had a chance to win but they started making all their shots in the latter half of the game and got us into some trouble. They took over a little bit. We had a chance in the last end but it didn't quite work out."
Meyers said when he heard the Russians were in town and played the Italian team earlier (March 24), he said he'd get a team of some of the top curlers in Carstairs and challenge them.
"We put together a team of guys," he said. "We got what I think are some of the better guys from the club and guys I've curled with before. We were able to give them a good game and actually make them work for it."
Meyers said one of the biggest differences in the style of play is in how precise they are.
"It's definitely a different style than we get in a regular men's league," he said. "A lot more precision. A lot more controlled weight. Not many rocks are going fast, unless they're going really fast. The speed control they have is top-notch. They can control the conditions, the curl, more than a lot of other teams."
