Many of us have developed a growing interest in Curling over the past few weeks while watching the Winter Olympics.
It started off with the mixed doubles team of Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds reaching the bronze medal match.
However, they failed in their quest for a medal as they were comfortably beaten 9-3 by Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson and Almida de Val.
There was no time for dwelling though as both returned for their men and women’s teams respectively.
The men reached the final before losing out to Sweden 5-4 and had to settle for the silver medal.
The women on the other hand went one better and won gold as they defeated Japan comprehensively in the final with a scoreline of 10-3.
The two teams made up entirely of Scots were the only medal success of Great Britain’s Winter Olympics.
Local Curling
Preston Curling Club is the home of curling in the North of England, based in the Preston Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre.
Ruaraidh Whyte, head of activities manager at the Flower Bowl, told Merseysportlive: “At the start of the Olympics you could see the rise in interest of curling.
“A lot more people are phoning up looking for information on sessions that we’ve got to offer.
“It has gone a bit crazy here”, said Whyte.
Richard Hills, President of Preston Curling Club spoke highly of the success of team GB’s curlers at the Olympics.
“It’s absolutely fantastic for the sport, it’s such a good achievement putting curling on the map.
“The ladies were amazing they blew Japan away in the end.”
Hills also encouraged people to come and try the local curling at the Flower Bowl.
He said: “Preston Curling Club is 150 years old this year, and since the Flower Bowl has opened, we’ve went from around 20 members to 70 members.
“Anyone can come and have a go, we have ‘try curling’ sessions, we have junior sessions, and we have wheelchair curling so come and give it a try.
“We will be playing at the English Championships and from that we hope to have a number of Preston players represent England at the European and World Championships.
“The long-term goal is to have players from Preston to represent Great Britain at the Olympics and go for Gold.”
Andy Lloyd, who is a local curler at the club, added: “I started curling at 7 years old, my family has a rich history in curling, so I joined this club when I moved to a small town.
“I’m a competitive Curler and we’re hoping to do well at the Nationals this year.
“I encourage anyone to get down and try it out”.
Watch our video report, below
