THE English Ladies’ curling team have spoken of their frustration at narrowly missing out on a place in the semi-final of the European Championships at Braehead in Scotland.
Anna Fowler, a former Tonbridge Grammar School pupil, admitted her dismay as the team, who all come from West Kent, came agonisingly close after the conclusion of the round-robin matches.
They faced a ‘tie-breaker’ showdown against the Netherlands for the last semi-final berth but were knocked out of the tournament when they lost 8-7 in Glasgow.
The team had faced a tough group in the B division, which included Poland, Slovakia, Turkey and Hungary – with the latter winning the overall competition last weekend. England finished in fifth place out of 10 competitors.
Anna, along with team-mate Angharad Ward, recorded their 100th appearances for England, which was unfortunately not to prove a lucky omen.
“We had an alright week, but we just couldn’t get into our groove,” said Anna, who explained that the team were especially disappointed having spent the past 12 months preparing for the biggest event of the year.
She added: “There were three teams who were tied on fourth place, so we ended up playing the Netherlands to go through to the semi-final.
“We had a few games where we knew we just weren’t playing as well as we could, but there’s not much you can do about that when it happens.
“We worked hard in that final match, but it came down to the final couple of stones and it was gutting to lose 8-7.”
The 25-year-old player, who grew up in Tunbridge Wells, added that the team is due to take a break from competition before challenging once again for a coveted spot to represent England in 2017.
Anna’s brother Ben Fowler was also in action at the European Championships last week, but he also missed out on a place in the semi-finals.
However, he is soon to be reunited with his sister as they compete together in mixed doubles competition in Scotland.
