Curler Menzies from Arbroath aiming for clean sweep in world championships at Las Vegas

National champions Team Paterson – featuring Arbroath’s Duncan Menzies – have been selected to represent Scotland at the LGT World Men’s Curling Championships, which take place at next month.
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The event is at the Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 2-10.

The line-up includes skip Kyle Waddell, vice-skip Ross Paterson, who plays skip stones, plus Craig Waddell and Angus player Menzies.

The quartet claimed victory at the Scottish Curling Championships in Dumfries last month, beating Team Whyte in a hard-fought final.

The skip is the only member of the team to have been involved previously in a World Championships, as part of Team Brewster six years ago. He was fifth man for Team Murdoch the following year and, most recently, for Team Mouat, when the event was last staged in Las Vegas and they won bronze. But he knows this will be a very different experience.

“First and foremost, it is always a great honour to represent Scotland, especially at World Championship level,” said Paterson, 38.

“It’s nice to be going back there. I know the arena and the set-up with the hotel. It’s a fantastic set-up and the crowds are great, so it will be really exciting to be there, it’s just a really special place to go. So to have that chance with my team is unbelievable.

While his teammates will all be making their debut in the event, Paterson noted they all have experience of major events, so is confident they will not be fazed.

“We have a similar line-up to what we had at the Europeans in 2019,” Paterson said. “We have faced some challenges and now we are just so focused and training hard to ensure that, when we go away, we represent Scotland well, which I am sure we will.

“I’m delighted for all the guys going to their first Worlds. We have experience as a team and Kyle’s been to an Olympics but this is Craig’s first international championship as a player, so it’s extra special for him.

“They are under no illusions about what will confront them in Las Vegas but, with past campaigns together, including becoming only the second Scottish team to win a Grand Slam title in Canada, they know they can mix it with the very best.”

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