GB Students held the upper hand for much of their opening tie in the men’s team event at the FISU Winter World University Games in Torino (15 January – 23 January), only for the win to be snatched from them when their Korean opponents scored a three at the penultimate end.
However, in assessing their overall performance, skip Arran Thomson felt the positives they had taken from getting into action outweighed their disappointment.
“They made a really great shot at that seventh end and capitalised on all our mistakes and we just struggled to bounce back for the rest of it,” he said of the moment that clinched the 5-3 victory for the Koreans. 
“We weren’t quite finishing off our shots, just playing a few half-shots, but team dynamics were really good with lots of communication going, lots of chat in between the ends.
“We were actually a wee bit worried about time at the start because we were chatting so much, but we’ve got no concerns there.”
They will now look to bounce back immediately in their only game of the second day, against relatively familiar opposition.
“We know a wee bit about the Ukrainians because they train at my local ice rink in Perth, so we see them competing in the leagues there,” Thomson explained.
“They’re a friendly bunch and we’re looking forward to playing them.”
And having sampled the environment, Thomson and teammates Ross Craik, Kaleb Johnson, Rory MacNair, along with their alternate Fraser Swanson, believe they can now feed off the atmosphere as they look to get into play-off contention in their bid to emulate GB Students mixed doubles pairing Robyn Munro and Orrin Carson who won gold in their event earlier this week.
“The energy and excitement was brilliant and hearing GB chants from the crowd there we can’t wait to get back on the ice with that crowd and get that feeling again,” said Thomson.
The women get their campaign underway tomorrow and face Korea and China on their first day of action.
GB Students Women’s Team
Laura Watt (University of Highlands and Islands - Perth College UHI)
Amy Mitchell (University of Stirling)
Holly Wilkie-Milne (University of Stirling)
Lisa Davie (The Open University)
Cara Davidson (Edinburgh Napier University)
GB Students Men’s Team
Arran Thomson (The Open University)
Ross Craik (University of Abertay)
Kaleb Johnson (University of Stirling)
Rory MacNair (Edinburgh Napier University)
Fraser Swanson (SRUC)
Head Coach – Nancy Smith
Women’s Coach – Luke Carson
Men’s Coach – Niall Ryder 
Schedule:
Wednesday 15 January
GB Men
GB – Korea 3-5
Thursday 16 January
GB Women – 0800
GB – Korea
GB Men – 1300
GB – Ukraine
GB Women – 1800
GB – China
Friday 17 January
GB Men - 0700
GB –China
GB Women – 1100
GB – Canada
GB Men – 1500
GB – Norway
GB Women – 1900
GB – Norway
Saturday 18 January
GB Men – 0800
GB – Sweden
GB Women – 1300
GB – Japan
GB Men – 1800
GB – Italy
Sunday 19 January
GB Women – 0700
GB – USA
GB Men - 1100
GB – Switzerland
GB Women – 1500
GB – Poland
GB Men - 1900
GB – USA
Monday 20 January
GB Women 0800
GB – Italy
GB Men - 1300
GB – Canada
GB Women - 1800
GB – Sweden
Tuesday 21 January
Men Semi Final 1 - 0700
Men Semi Final 2 - 1100
Women Semi Final 1 - 1500
Women Semi Final 2 - 1900
Wednesday 22 January
Women Bronze Medal Game - 1300
Men Bronze Medal Game - 1800
Thursday 23 January
Women Gold Medal Game - 0900
Men Gold Medal Game - 1300
Please click here for results. 