Norway experience frustrating, disappointing - Armstrong

Jim Armstrong skipped and threw 4th stones throughout the recent Norwegian Open, and told me this evening that the spiel was a frustrating experience.

"There was a last minute change of venue which meant we had a four hour bus ride each day. Then our two losses were directly influenced by the time keeping. We were two up against USA after 6 ends, when the bell rang; but we played the 7th end and gave up 3. Then against Scotland, we were one down after 5 ends when the bell rang, but though we began the 6th with the hammer, we were told to come off the ice. Two games, two different rules."

Armstrong, who sounded quite weary over the phone, said that he would probably sit out at least one of their 3 round robin matches in Kinross. Nine teams are competing over three days, with the semi-final and final set for Thursday.