The names of those competing in teams for the Junior Championships have been posted (here). In the Junior Women's event, entries are up, to eleven next season. The championship will be decided in the one week at Perth, February 3-8, using a slightly complicated formula to get down to the one team. Who will that be? With Scottish (and World) Champion skip Eve Muirhead recruiting Anna Sloan who she beat in the final last season, and with Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre still as the front end, this is the team that the others will have to beat!
There are twenty Junior Men's teams. There will be a qualifying playdown at Curl Aberdeen, January 23-25. Four sections of five, top two teams in each go forward to the Scottish Junior Championships at Perth, February 3-8.
Scottish Junior Champ Glen Muirhead has also recruited a former rival, Greg Drummond, to throw third stones and the team goes forward with the two Scotts - Andrews and Macleod - into next season. Remember of course that this is the team that has been selected to try to win Scotland a place at the World Juniors in Vancouver this season (see here). The Muirhead team will go to Taarnby in January for the European Junior Challenge, to try to qualify Scotland for the 2009 World Junior Championship.
Top: Anna Sloan takes over from Kerry Barr, now too old for Juniors, in Eve Muirhead's Scottish Champion team. Above: Greg Drummond, on the left, steps down from skipping his own rink, to play third for Glen Muirhead. Pics by Bob.
4 comments:
No mention of only 8 entries to the Scottish Ladies Championships?!
That's because it was already mentioned here:
http://curlingtoday.blogspot.com/2008/06/competitions-entry-for-new-season.html
that entries were down and there would be no qualifying competition. I do try not to repeat myself on the blog.
Bob
Fair response but when you quote 'Colin Hamilton, the competitions' manager, confirms that entries this year have remained strong.' and go on to say 'Only the Seniors' events are down in numbers' it does seem to detract a little from the Ladies Championship where entries are down by more than 50%
Last season six teams played in a prequalifier to find the three for the places available in the Gold Leage. These three joined the five already through.
By my calculation, that's eleven teams who wanted to compete. This season there's eight. I agree this is not going in the right direction, but it does not say that 'entries are down more than 50%'.
Worth discussing on the Scottish Curling Forum?
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