Sunday, April 12, 2009

Ford World Curling: Eggi


















by Katja Kiiskinen

MONCTON – gk told me about this story; I think it’s very cool. So here it is for you.

As the World Curling Federation website revealed yesterday, another milestone (after Burnsie’s 50th at the 50th) was reached by Switzerland’s Markus Eggler, the 1992 world champion who took over skip duties here in Moncton midway through the event.

Switzerland’s semifinal loss to Canada marked Eggler’s 125th career appearance in a Swiss uniform, which encompasses four competitions: World Juniors, European Championships, World Championships and the Olympic Winter Games. This is a Swiss record.

The black and white pic is taken from Dartmouth, way back in 1986. It was the first-ever World appearance for Eggler (crouching at right) and, lo and behold, another young stallion named Kevin Martin (top left).

Obviously, the colour pic was taken last night. Both images are credited to Michael Burns. Montage courtesy Anil Mungal. Click to zoom in.

The brief story about their friendship, which also extends between Eggler and Martin’s father, Ab, is really what curling is all about.

Congratulations Markus!

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