Stats at Scottish Curling Championship

Now, this is interesting. For the first time in a number of years there are plans to have statisticians working at the Bruadar Scottish Championship and the Columba Cream Gold League, the women's finals!

It would seem that the contract for providing the stats service has gone to CurlingZone. Dallas Bittle is the person behind the name, and many will know of him as the main author of the Black Book of Curling (above), which has everything you ever wanted to know about curling stats, and more beside!

The Royal Club is looking for volunteers to be the statisticians at the event. If you would like to be involved - and it would seem that some expenses will be available - you should check out Nancy Murdoch's post on the RCCC website here.

Nancy says, 'The initiative was driven by Colin Grahamslaw (the RCCC CEO) in partnership with British Curling to add value to the Scottish Finals for teams, players, coaches and spectators alike. It is also anticipated to be a fantastic development and promotion opportunity for all volunteers and coaches who wish to assist. Also the other benefit looking ahead towards the future for the Aberdeen Europeans in 2009 is the legacy of training up volunteers to assist at this event.'

I must admit that I think this is an exciting development, coming as it does when the time for Olympic squad selection is drawing closer, so I expect to be posting more about all this as the Scottish Championships get closer.

This weekend of course the men have the second leg of the qualifiers at Perth and the women have another round of the Gold League at Kinross. Sunday night there is Wood v Munro, a repeat of the Glynhill final game. That might be fun to see! All the results will be on the RCCC website.

A curling weekend in Aviemore in 1978

Forgive a little nostalgia. I was reminded yesterday by an old curling friend, Brian Alderman, that it was thirty years ago to the day that we set out to compete in a competition at the old rink in Aviemore. The event was sponsored by the Rowanlea Hotel in Carrbridge, and that was where we all stayed. If I recall correctly we played a game on the Friday, then a couple more on the Saturday.

It started to snow on the Saturday night, and the pics I've posted here show what it was like when it eventually stopped on Monday morning. Needless to say, the competition was never completed.

The snow paralysed transport throughout the Highlands for several days. There are a couple of pics of what Newtonmore, a little down the road, was like here. I got home the following Friday! It certainly was a curling 'weekend' to remember.

The top pic is a bulldozer on the main street through Carrbridge. It was from the new A9 road construction that was ongoing at the time. The second pic is of Brian attempting to dig out his car. I cannot remember whose camera it was! Apologies for the lack of a proper photo credit.

Interested in the Aviemore of old? Lots of pics and memories are here. And Carrbridge has its own website here.

Do YOU want to influence the future of curling in Scotland?

The governing body of curling in Scotland, the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, regularly comes in for criticism from all manner of people and for all sorts of reasons. Are you one of the critics? Could you make a difference? If you simply feel that you could contribute to how our sport is governed, then here is your opportunity!

The Royal Club is overseen by a Board of Directors - that's them in the photo above. Two of the elected director positions fall vacant in June. These are currently held by Mike Ferguson (who is the Chairman) and Jeanette Johnston.

Both Mike and Jeanette are eligible to stand for re-election, although at the moment we do not know if they will do so. The Board is seeking additional candidates to stand for these positions. Could this be YOU? Details of how to apply can be found here. February 14 is the closing date for applications.

Back L-R: Lockhart Steele, Anne Malcolm, Irene Hird, Bob Tait
Front: Colin Grahamslaw (CEO), Tommy Hinnigan (RCCC President), Mike Ferguson and Jeanette Johnston.

Team Norberg will not be Sweden's representatives at Worlds

Sweden's representatives at the Ford World Women's Curling Championship in Vernon will NOT be Anette Norberg's European Champions. Norberg and her team, who beat Scotland's Kelly Wood in the final at Fussen, have lost out to Stina Viktorsson of Skellefteå in the battle to become Sweden's representatives at the World event.

Swedish Curling Association's General Secretary Hakan Sundstrom reports that former World and Olympic Champion Norberg played Viktorsson three times in Karlstad. Viktorsson won all three games, first in the round-robin 10-4, then in the first game in the page play-off 7-6, and then in the final 9-3.

Maria Prytz plays third stones for Viktorsson, the second is Maria Wennerström, and lead is Margaretha Sigfridsson who skipped the team that was runners-up to Jackie Lockhart's Scotland in Bismarck in 2002.

Anette Norberg's photo was taken by Bob at the Euro Championships.

Scotland's wheelchair curlers head for Sursee

Michael McCreadie, Aileen Neilson, Tom Killin, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton set off for the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Sursee, Switzerland, tomorrow (Tuesday). The Scots official practice is on Saturday morning and their first game is against the host nation, Switzerland, on Saturday at 6pm. Scotland's last round robin game is against Canada. Medal games are on Saturday, February 9.

See Curling Today's previous post about the Scotland team here.

You will be able to find the draw and all the results here. Good to see Curlit being the results service provider again! For more on wheelchair curling don't forget to check out wheelchaircurling.com, particularly the News pages.

Team Scotland. L-R: Michael McCreadie, Aileen Neilson, Tom Killin, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton. Photo courtesy of Tom Pendreigh.

Ena is new RCCC development officer at Kinross

The Royal Caledonian Curling Club has announced that Ena Stevenson has become the Development Officer for the Kinross rink at the Green Hotel. Ena will be employed on a part-time, seasonal basis.

Ena has headed up the Kinross Curling School for some years. Find the official announcement with Ena's quote here.

There are currently ten area curling development officers in post covering thirteen rinks in Scotland. Two more part-time posts are to be advertised shortly for the Greenacres and Waterfront rinks.

Ena's photo by Bob.

Call for RCCC to run adult camp

Another Royal Club masterclass was held at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton, yesterday. The first was at Kinross in December, described here. The objective of a Royal Club Masterclass is to let club curlers experience something of what performance players are taught and learn during their training sessions.

The Hamilton masterclass was organised by RCCC Development Manager Judith McFarlane with Jim Morrison, the local ACDO. Coaches on the day were Lynn Cameron, Nancy Murdoch, Lynne Robertson, Claire Milne and Logan Gray. Lockhart Steele fielded questions on many topics, and the tactics session was run by Nancy and Logan (photo here).

So popular have the masterclasses proved that Judith is considering the possibility of running an Adult Camp, over a weekend. The World Curling Federation has successfully piloted such an event in Prague, and details of the WCF camp May 31 - June 3 can be found here.

The photo shows Logan Gray with his group on the ice at Hamilton. Photo courtesy of Judith McFarlane.

Aberdeen Invitation update

I've just been asked who won, as the results of the Aberdeen Ladies Invitation are not on the web. Not that Curling Today wishes to become a results service but here is what I have, courtesy of Anne Malcolm.

First place went to Shona Watt (Murrayfield) with Lisa Mackellaich, Abby Brodie and Morven Bridges; second was Claire Hamilton (Lockerbie), Claire Macdonald, Lindsey Spence and Jennifer Priestley; third - Kay Gibb (Aberdeen), Trudie Milne, Phemie Phillip and Janette Graham. In fourth place were Liz Paul (Braehead) with Linda Stevenson, Doreen Mainds and Nanette Davidson. Well done all.

Here are the winners with sponsor Lynne Gerrard (on right). Photo courtesy of Anne Malcolm.
Top photo is Shona Watt by Bob.

On the ice at Curl Aberdeen

Dropping in to Curl Aberdeen yesterday, I was reminded by manager Tom Brewster that the rink will hold the biggest international curling event in the world NEXT YEAR! Yes, the European Championships will be held in the city in December 2009. The website is here.

The rink was a hive of activity this weekend, staging the Aberdeen Ladies Invitation, a multi-sponsored event involving twenty-four teams, from juniors to masters! Shari Leibbrandt's team from the Netherlands provided an international dimension. That's Shari above. I was struck though just how many past and present RCCC Ladies' Branch office bearers there were on the ice. And there was even a World Curling Federation Vice-president, Kate Caithness, and a Royal Club Board member! And another member of the Board, Anne Malcolm, was heading up the organising committee. Good to see those who spend so much of their time immersed in the politics of the sport enjoying time on the ice.

Here are a few pics.

WCF VP Kate Caithness (in front) was not having the best of afternoons against Norma Brown. Best not ask her the score!

RCCC Board Member Irene Hird.

Kay Gibb is the RCCC Ladies Branch Junior Vice-president.

Ladies Branch President Patricia Thomson. Great to see her on the ice at Aberdeen. Pity she's not joined the Black OUT campaign, and if I cannot convince the important people in Scottish curling that black tops have no place on a curling rink, then we are not going to make much progress in reclaiming our colourful sport. Incidentally, Scotland is not the only country to have the problem of all black outfits. See Al Cameron's Sack the Black blog post here.

Photos by Bob.

Henderson wins YARA

Billy Henderson, Roy Henderson, Robin Anderson and Will Davidson-Gall won the Yara Farmers Championship at the Dewar's Rinks in Perth yesterday. In the final of the 25th anniversary event, Henderson's team beat Robert Clark, Jim Strang, Neil Sands and Johnny Johnstone at the last stone of the final.

Linda Young (skip), Margaret Scott, Hazel Swankie and Carol Dawson won the Ladies' prize.

Good news last night, amidst the anniversary celebrations, is that the sponsors are looking forward to the 26th championship next season!

Photo at top: Billy Henderson.

Above: Tove Andersen, Managing Director YARA UK, presents the trophy and prizes to L-R Will Davidson-Gall, Roy Henderson, Billy Henderson and Robin Anderson.

L-R: Linda Young, Margaret Scott, Hazel Swankie and Carol Dawson.

Pics by Bob.

Scotland's representatives at the World Mixed Doubles

It has been a difficult week for Logan Gray, the Scottish Mixed Doubles Curling Champion. His partner in the event, Kelly Wood, has been advised by National Coach Derek Brown that if her team was to win the Columba Cream Gold League she would not be able to go to Vierumaki for the first World Mixed Doubles event. Logan and Kelly won the title at Murrayfield the weekend before Christmas. That report is here.

It was just not practical to wait to see if Team Wood does win the Scottish, so Logan has had to decide whether he should ask another player, or waive his opportunity to compete in Finland. He decided on the latter course of action and informed the Royal Club. The governing body then offered the runners-up at Murrayfield, Dillan Perras and Judith Carr, the chance to go, and they have accepted.

Judith is excited by the prospect. She said that she and Dillan are, "Prouder than you could ever imagine, to represent Scotland in Finland!" And now they are going! The mother and son combination will be great representatives, and if they play like they did at Murrayfield they will do very well indeed.

News of the future of the Glynhill Ladies International

I must admit that I enjoyed the Glynhill Ladies International at the Braehead curling rink last weekend. A note from the organisers today confirms that feedback from competing teams has been positive, and that plans are already underway for next year. A move to twenty-four teams, up from this season's twenty, is planned. Judith McFarlane, co-chairman, says she hopes the competition will continue to grow and be a valued addition to the WCT-e calendar.

The Glynhill competition was the last WCT-e event of the season. Top of the money list is Mirjam Ott of Switzerland. Ludmila Privivkova is in second place with her fifth place finish at Braehead.

Meantime, if you would like to look back at the event, you can watch some of the final here. This was filmed by Stable Recordings of Beith. This was the company that put together the promotional DVD Curling from a Wheelchair for the WCF. It is also available to watch on You Tube here.

Below are a few Scottish Curler memories of the Glynhill competition. There are more photos and a report in February's magazine which has already gone to print. Subscription form is here.

It was good to have Kelly Scott and her World Champions take part in the event. Photo by Bob.

Good to see some Russian smiles, caught by Richard Gray.

So what do you do if you don't make the playoffs. You go see a little of Glasgow and do some shopping, all made possible by one of the event sponsors, Arriva, who really helped out with event transport. Pic by Bob.

I really should not single out any of the organising committee and the volunteers, but these two I think had the hardest job, yet one that is absolutely essential to get right in any major event. Andrew Cousar and Ranald Findlay's remit was TRANSPORT. Pic by Bob.

It was a hard weekend for all the staff at Braehead, on and off the ice! The bar and catering coped admirably, although if we have 24 teams next year chef will need a bigger kitchen! Photo by Bob.

Stable Recordings at work ...... recording. Photo by Bob.

Gail Munro and Kelly Wood in the final. Photo by Richard Gray.

Pacific Junior Championships

The Pacific Junior Curling Championships were held January 16-20 in Jeonju, South Korea. China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand contested both junior men and junior women's titles, with one slot available in each division for the World Junior Championships.

So who will be going to Ostersund, Sweden, March 1-9? In the junior men's event, China beat Japan in the gold medal game. In the junior women's competition, Japan defeated China to go through. You can find all the scores from Jeonju here.

Scotland's Dor Borthwick was umpire at the event. Actually, if you look closely you can see her in the photo above!

Scotland's teams for Ostersund will be decided at the Scottish Junior Championships at the Dewar's Centre, Perth, February 6-10. The draw for the event is now on the RCCC website here.

Thanks to Dor Borthwick for the photo, which was taken by one of the volunteers at the event.

Presentation to Eve Muirhead

The photo shows Eve Muirhead being presented with a new chanter by Bill Wilks, representing Atholl Province curlers, at the Atholl Curling Rink, Pitlochry. This was in recognition of her success at the World Junior Curling Championships in Eveleth last season.

Now 16 years old, Eve's curling career started in the Atholl rink seven years ago and she uses the facility for regular practice with her brothers Glen and Thomas.

Eve is a piper with the Pitlochry and Blair Atholl pipe band and the chanter was specially hand crafted for her by David Naill and Co of Somerset who are regarded as the finest bagpipe makers in the world. The chanter was designed by Eve and has an engraved silver inscription. Most recently multi talented Eve piped the finalists of the Ramada Perth Masters on to the ice at the Dewars Centre! Here she is.

Presentation photo courtesy of Alister Walker.

The two Kellys on Sports Weekly

Did you hear the two Kellys - Scott and Wood - on John Beattie's Sports Weekly programme on BBC Radio Scotland last Saturday? You can find a listen again link here.

It is always good to hear our sport being discussed on national radio. Kelly Wood is no stranger to the programme, and it was great that the Canadian World Champ got up early to go in to the studio and help promote our sport. Mind you she may have regretted it later in the day, as her team lost two games and crashed out of the tournament!

Well done to both girls, they were great ambassadors. If you will allow me an observation though, I thought that John and co-presenter Katie Still were just a bit too 'nice' in their questioning, and I nearly fell of my seat when John said to Kelly Wood that her media training was very evident!

Minister for Communities and Sport Stewart Maxwell was also on the programme and his comments on the sportscotland and Scottish Institute of Sports reorganisation make interesting listening. He also said he would like to give curling a go. I hope the invitations have already gone out from Cairnie House. He would be most welcome on the ice anywhere in Scotland!

The photo of the two Kellys with John Beattie and Katie Still is courtesy of Donald Garden, Producer BBC Sport Scotland.

Yara Farmers Championship

With eighty teams, the YARA Farmers Championship is the largest curling event in Europe. First games were played today at the Dewar's Centre in Perth. Largest? Doesn't really matter - those who take part in this event (which reaches its climax on Friday) swear it is the most enjoyable!

This is the twenty-fifth year of the event, which makes it one of the longest running sponsorships and most sought after invitations on the curling calendar!

The competition has been organised faithfully by Alan Wood (Woodie to everyone) for centuries (or so it seems). Perth director David Hay, whose father Chuck was one of the instigators of the event, says of Woodie, "No review of the YARA Farmers Championship would be complete without mention of one man who has been at every event. Woodie is a great character and is loved by all competitors. He handles all the day-to-day organization of the event in a calm professional manner and has always kept the championship running smoothly."

Here he is throwing the first stone. I'll be up to see the action as soon as I get February's Scottish Curler off my desk this week! But I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to see an 8-end this year.

Alan Wood with Jenny Bain, Helen Meikle, Susan Meikle and Joyce McCluskey who scored an eight-ender last year.

Weekend roundup

Gail Munro, Lyndsay Wilson, Karen Addison and Annie Laird won the inaugural Glynhill Ladies International at Braehead today, defeating the Scottish Champions Kelly Wood, Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Lindsay Wood in the final. Wood's team fought back from 5-1 behind to be in a tied game in the last end. To keep her unbeaten record over the weekend, and to collect the £2500 first prize for her team, Gail made a perfect hit with her last stone.

Verdict on Scotland's first women's WCT-e event? Top class. Well done to all involved. Thanks to legacy funding from the 2005 World Women's Championship in Paisley, and hopefully continued support from the sponsors, the event will definitely go ahead next year. Incidentally I counted twice as many spectators watching the final than at the recent Ramada Perth Masters!

Elsewhere at the weekend, defending champion Keith Prentice has qualified for the final of the House of Bruar Scottish Seniors Championship. Also through from the Aberdeen group are Bob Kelly, Andy McGlynn, Barton Henderson, Graeme Govan and David Clydesdale. The results are here. The finals are at the Lanarkshire rink, February 14-17.

The qualifying rounds for the Scottish Junior Men's Championship were held at Ayr this weekend. The results are on the RCCC website here. The qualifiers: John Penny and Lindsay Gray from Section 1; Glen Muirhead and Ally Fraser (after a tiebreaker) from Section 3; Jamie Dick and Graeme Black from Section 4. Paul Russell finished top of Section 2, but there was a three way tie for the second qualifying spot. Ian McClune beat Stuart Dodds in the first tiebreaker but lost the second to Greg Drummond 3-2, so Drummond and his team go through.

The Scottish Junior finals are at the Dewar's Centre in Perth, February 5-10.

L-R: Lyndsay Wilson, Gail Munro, Karen Addison and Annie Laird with the Ladies International Curling Kettle.

Playoffs at the Glynhill

So who were the protagonists who won the right to play at 8.0am Sunday morning at Braehead in the first Glynhill Ladies Curling International? Who progressed to the semis? Find the results here.

Team of the weekend award goes to Gail Munro, Lyndsay Wilson, Karen Addison and Annie Laird. Undefeated and still going strong!

Eve Muirhead (above), Kerry Barr, Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre. Good performance from this junior rink.

Anna Hasselborg's junior team from Sweden gave a good account of themselves, but Sunday morning's game was just an end too much. I played against her dad, Michael, in the Silver Broom in 1983! Just thought I'd mention it.

Gillian Howard and her team are playing with such confidence - wanting too to show just what an unsupported team can do, given the opportunity! Well deserve their place in the semis.

Sarah Reid and Edith Loudon here at auditions for Women in Black 2. Will Smith is in negotiations for a cameo role. The supporters in the bar are hoping to be cast as aliens. Seriously though, what other sport in the world would allow two teams dressed identically, in black, to compete against each other. It's a nonsense. It is making the sport look stupid. It has to stop. RCCC, Scottish Institute of Sport, Glynhill Organisers, Umpires, WCT-e, WCF, anybody... ARE YOU LISTENING? (Glad I got that off my chest. New Year Resolution - say what you really think, Bob).

Nearly forgot, the Loudon team are still contenders for the big prize today! Having a good weekend.

Kelly Wood, Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Lindsay Wood are working away!

Ludmilla Privivkova, much to the disappointment of her many fans on the organising committee, made the quarters but not the semis, downed by the Wood machine.

Mind you, there were forces other than physical at work in the Braehead rink this morning. Can you spot the fourth Russian in this picture. (No it's not umpire Ian Addison.) Look top right, on the poster board! It's the WCF promotional poster (below) with the lovely Anastassia Skoultan, sadly no longer competing (it's a long story). Note to Les Harrison. Time for a new WCF promotional poster. Suggestion, get Ana Arce to chose a model (anybody else missing the Fire on Ice calendar this year?). Suggestion to Ana, a certain Hungarian skip might be a good choice. And yes, look forward to Helen Wilson's article about Ildiko in the February Scottish Curler magazine. Find out how to subscribe here.

All pics by Bob. Update late tonight. It's been a fun weekend.

Qualifiers at the Glynhill

What an interesting day it has been at the Glynhill Ladies International at Braehead! Kelly Scott's world curling champs failed to qualify. All the results are here.

But who did get through? It took two tiebreakers, but the lineup for the quarterfinals Sunday 08:00 is:

Privivkova v Wood
Hasselborg v Howard
Reid v Loudon
Munro v Muirhead

More pics tomorrow, hopefully.

Out and about at the Glynhill International curling at Braehead

Why is world champ Kelly Scott looking so glum at the Glynhill Ladies Curling International at Braehead? The clue may be found in the scoreboard below. This photo is by Richard Gray, all the others are by Bob.

Oops, that wasn't on the agenda. Find all the other scores here.

Here's who did the damage. Gillian Howard is shown delivering. Sweepers are Jill Donald and Rosemary Arkley, and Alison Kinghorn is in the head. That's a result for the team CV.

In Scotland, when crossing the road you should look right.

Then look left! Yulia Svetova's young Russian team shows how it is done. Love the colour!!

Sarah Macintyre, here with Vicki Adams and Kerry Barr, are in Eve Muirhead's team.

That's Yulia Svetova on the left in this Russia v Germany encounter.

Pretty in pink. Jennifer Priestley and Barbara McFarlane work hard on Sarah Reid's last stone to pick out that front red for a big three.

Team Denmark.

Madeleine Dupont is asking nicely for some sweeping.

Edith Loudon and her team are enjoying the weekend. Here Edith is doing a quick promotion for Duck tape. (Other manufacturers of tape are available.)

Women in Black: the Braehead event. Mairi Milne uses her magic brush to attract the aliens on Saturday.

Playoffs tomorrow. Should be good.

Mother and child reunion

It's all happening at the Glynhill Ladies Curling International at Braehead! World champion Kelly Scott from Canada discovered she has a second mother. Her mum (back in Canada) is Judy Mackenzie. Judy Mackenzie, well kent Scottish curler, is media liaison for the Glynhill event. We caught them at last night's dinner at the Glynhill. I think from the genetic similarities evident in the pic (above) we know who Kelly's real mum is!

BTW, did you hear Kelly and Kelly (Wood) on John Beattie's Sport's Weekly on BBC Radio Scotland this morning. They were great ambassadors for the sport.

Spectators aplenty. That's the Sheriff (aka David B Smith) dressed for the occasion, with Brian Martin of Ailsa Craig Jewellery who has a stand at the event.

Now, what are these umpires scheming up? Captions wanted for this pic of Ian Addison and Leslie Ingram-Brown.

Russian warm up. Yes, but just to show you that at least the Russian's have signed up to the Editor's plea for MORE COLOUR on the ice!

Now, what did the Editor say to make Russian coach Olga smile?

Knitting while the heads roll. It used to be common to see spectators knitting while watching the curling. Knitting is making a comeback in Sweden. Here Pia Hasselborg (mother to Anna the Swedish ladies skip) makes a start on leg warmers for the Editor.

Roland Jentsch, coach to Daniela Jentsch and her German team, threatened them that if they missed any open takeouts they would have to eat haggis for breakfast. Did they win their game this morning? Check the results here.

Glynhill Ladies International

Yes, they're here! Straight off the plane and on to the ice for a practice. The three Russian teams made it to the Glynhill Ladies International! Too late for one of the games which had to be cancelled, but others have been rearranged. Whilst the rest of the teams are enjoying the event dinner at the Glynhill Hotel this evening, some will be playing in a late session at Braehead. Find the results here.

Worth waiting for! Russia's Margarita Fomina.

Japan's third player Mari Motohashi wonders what went wrong! But her team had a last stone extra end victory over the Netherlands.

A big WCT-e event such as this doesn't happen without a lot of volunteer help. Ian Mackin (that's him in the centre) is the event's webmaster, and bringing you all the results. The website home page is here. Umpire Ian Addison is at the rear of the pic and that's Anne Gordon helping out with the results!

Kelly Wood and Norway's Marianne Roervik. This game was a win for the Scots.

Denmark's Lene Nielsen delivers.

Last but not least. World Champ Kelly Scott from Canada has 'arrivaed' too.

Pics by Bob. More tomorrow!

Rhona Martin has new job

Well, the first award of the weekend must go to Binia Feltscher-Beeli's Swiss team. That's them above. Stranded at Heathrow yesterday afternoon, they perceived a solution. Hire a car and drive to Braehead! What commitment! Arriving late last night, they got picked up at the Hertz returns office by the Glynhill committee transportation team. No luggage, but they were carrying their curling gear, so a quick trip into Braehead's shops this morning, then borrow some brushes, and they were ready to go. Well done girls!

That's the good news. The bad? Their opposition wasn't here. The three Russian teams didn't make it off the ground last night, but the latest news is they are on their way. Draws have been rescheduled. The Glynhill Ladies International competition is underway. You can find the results here.

And Rhona? I thought that might get your attention. What does a retired Olympic Champion do when the big events continue without her. See the evidence below!

Panic, what panic? Co-chairman Kirsty Letton with World Champ Kelly Scott.

Arriva is helping out with the transportation of teams from the Glynhill Hotel to the Braehead Rink. Here's Rhona Martin behind the wheel with Shari Leibbrandt and her team from the Netherlands.

Pics by Bob.

Who would be an organiser?

One has to feel sympathy for tournament organisers as the first day of the big event gets closer. Joint chairmen of the organising committee of the Glynhill Ladies International, set to begin at 09.00 tomorrow (Friday), are Judith McFarlane and Kirsty Letton. It's a new event, let's hope all goes well.

So, did it? With a couple of teams already here and safely at the headquarters hotel, today was the big day for those involved with the transportation. Ranald Findlay and Andrew Cousar have that remit. Seven teams and their entourages were due for pickup at various times of the day at Glasgow and Prestwick airports. All the arrangements were in place.

Then, at lunchtime, news comes in of a major incident at Heathrow. A plane has crashed on landing and the airport is closed. Air travel in the country is severely disrupted. Yes, everyone is grateful that there were no fatalities. But where are all the curling teams?

As I write this, at 22.00 on Thursday night, the Swiss team is safely on route to Glasgow .... by road! Team Jensen from Denmark are expected in after midnight. Where though are the three Russian teams? Will the morning draws need to be rescheduled. Will the organisers enjoy a good night's sleep?

I'll tell you tomorrow!

The past meets the future

As many who read this Curling Today blog will know, I have an interest in the sport's history and traditions, as well as what is happening 'today'. So I was delighted that the organisers of the Glynhill International at Braehead chose to go with an unusual trophy for the event. The 'Ladies International Curling Kettle', as the trophy has been named, is an old toddy kettle in the shape of a curling stone. David B Smith describes it here.

The trophy is unusual... and valuable! It was gifted to the organisers by Leslie Ingram-Brown.

What's happening this weekend at Braehead is a far cry from the traditional outside curling when toddy kettles might have been in use! How things have changed in recent years. When I began my curling career, there were few women on the ice. When the first women's world championship was held in Perth in 1979, very few young women curled in Scotland. Now, in 2008, the women's game is as competitive as it ever has been, the standard of play high, even though the numbers playing competitively here in Scotland are not perhaps as great as we would like. Internationally, women's curling is flourishing. It is attractive to watch, and it's colourful. Braehead this weekend is NOT going to be a sea of black - as it was at the Ramada Perth Masters recently when more than half of the men's teams on the ice sported dark coloured uniforms.

Who to look out for this weekend? Three pics below. More to come after play gets underway Friday morning, and of course some will appear in February's Scottish Curler magazine. The results from Braehead will be on the event website here.

Russia's Ludmilla Privikova at the European Championships (photo by Bob).

Lene Nielsen of Denmark (photo by Richard Gray).

Calendar girl Jackie Lockhart plays third for Scotland's Kelly Wood team who were runners-up at the European Championships (photo by Richard Gray).

Junior championship gets underway

Twenty-one junior men's teams play off at Ayr this weekend to find the top eight who will contest the Scottish Junior Championship, February 5-10. The winners then will be Scotland's representatives in the World Junior Championship in Ostersund, Sweden, March 1-9.

At Ayr the teams have been seeded into four sections, two to qualify from each. The draw is here. Junior curling is notoriously hard to predict, but it should be fairly safe to say that Jamie Dick and his team of Andrew Noble, Colin Dick and Andrew Williamson (pictured here) will get though to the finals. Jamie was runner up to Logan Gray last season. Logan is now too old for juniors, having taken the title three years in a row, although his younger brother Lindsay will be looking to be in Perth for the finals again this season.

Glen Muirhead's side of Scott Macleod, Scott Andrews and Gordon McDougall have been the most successful of all the junior teams so far this season. See them here. Their goal at Ayr is to make sure of qualification for the finals. Greg Drummond, James Dunn, Thomas Pendreigh and Greg Drummond are the other RCCC National Academy team and are expected to qualify too.

Only eight junior women's teams entered for the Scottish this season and all are through to the finals next month at Perth.

Jamie Dick's photo from last season's Scottish Championship is by Richard Gray. Gordon McDougall, Glen Muirhead and Scott Andrews discuss options in the final of the Lockerbie Junior Invitation last month. Photo by Bob.

Come and Try revealed

Come and Try days are all the rage at the moment, as the Royal Club and curling rinks up and down the country attempt to increase the numbers participating in our sport here in Scotland.

On January 12, the Border Ice Rink, Kelso, introduced some sixty newcomers to the sport. The event attracted the interest of the local media, including Kevin Janiak of the Southern Reporter, whose video feature is available online for all to see here.

Jim Buchanan is the area development officer at Kelso, and was the main organiser of the Come and Try day. He was delighted at the response on the night. You can hear him being interviewed in the piece, which also has the views of some who took part.

Kay gets the call

Kay Adams, who skips one of the country's top junior teams (photo here) has been invited to play in Dordi Nordby's Norwegian side at the Glynhill International at Braehead which begins on Thursday.

Kay joins Dordi, Marianne Roervik and Camilla Holt. Their first game is against Anna Hasselborg's Swedes in Section B (which includes Kelly Wood and her team) at 09.00 Friday.

The top photo is of Kay from last season's Scottish Junior Championships (photo by Bob). The photo of Dordi is from the World Women's Championship at the Lagoon Centre, Paisley, in 2005 and was taken by Richard Gray. It is legacy funding from that event which is allowing the new WCT-e Glynhill event to get off the ground this year.

Japan flies in

It's just a few days to the start of the Glynhill Ladies International at Braehead and the Japanese team are the early birds.

They flew into a damp and rainy Glasgow Airport this afternoon. Moe Meguro, Mari Motohashi, Mayo Yamaura, Kotomi Ishizaki and coach Shinya Abe arrived fresh from playing in another WCT-e event in Berne. There they won four games from seven, including a victory over Claire Milne before losing out to Kelly Wood.

Mari Motohashi is no stranger to Scotland, she played in the World Women's Curling Championship in Paisley in 2005.

And the team are all set to go, one of their first questions was "Is there practice ice?" But it won't be all ice time, they hope to get some sightseeing in before the event starts, let's hope the weather improves!

The rest of the teams will be flying in over the next few day with most arriving on Thursday.

Photo above is by Hugh Stewart. L-R: Shinya Abe (coach), Kotomi Ishizaki, Moe Meguro (skip), Mayo Yamaura and Mari Motohashi.

Scots wheelchair curlers runners up in Germany

Michael McCreadie, Aileen Neilson, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton took part in a wheelchair curling event in Schwenningen, Germany, at the weekend as part of their preparations for the World Championships in Sursee next month. Scotland competed against two Swiss teams and teams from the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Russia and Italy.

According to coach Tom Pendreigh, Team Scotland started slowly on ice which was slower than they are used to. Still, the team fought hard to earn a place in the semifinals against Switzerland. They were down 4-0 at the turn but dug deep to win the game at the last.

Scotland then met Russia in the final for the second time in the competition. The Russian team ran out the winners. There are lots of photos of the event here.

The Scottish team was without Tom Killin who missed the trip due to a family bereavement.

Weekend roundup

(1) Well done to Kelly Wood, Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Lindsay Wood who reached the final of the Berne Ladies WCT-e event at the weekend. The girls played nine games in total, losing an A road game to Switzerland's Mirjam Ott, but coming through B to get to the quarterfinals. There they beat Canada's Shannon Kleibrink and then Germany's Andrea Schopp in the semi to reach the final. They fell to Kelly Scott's World Champs in the last game.

Sarah Reid and her team played seven, won three and lost four, one of which was to Claire Milne's side who also played seven games winning four and losing three. All the results from Berne can be found here.

(2) David Murdoch, Logan Gray and John Hamilton are all undefeated in Section A after four games of the Bruadar Scottish Championship qualifiers at Perth. Scott Hamilton beat Warwick Smith to be undefeated in Section B, but has played one game less than David Edwards and Warwick who are both on 3-1 records. In Section C Gordon Muirhead and Alan Smith are undefeated after three rounds. And in Section D Tom Brewster is the lone undefeated side after four games. All the scores are here. The next rounds are in two weeks time.

(3) In the House of Bruar Scottish Senior Men's Championship, Iain Baxter, Gordon Butler, Graeme Adam, Bob Smellie, Jim Beckett and Gary Macfarlane are the six qualifiers from Greenacres. Further qualifiers will come from Aberdeen next weekend. All the results are here.

(4) The last qualifiers for the National Masters (over 60s) have now been determined. The details are here. Jim Stevenson, John Young, Ian Dykes, and Sandy Reid join those teams qualified in November (Bobby Rae, Jackson Robb, William Jack, Sandy Wilson, Jimmy Johnson, Gifford Rickard, Jim Beckett and Richie Knox) for the National Finals March 5-9.

Close finish to U-17 Slam

The fifth and last of the season's Under 17 events took place at Lockerbie this weekend. The winners of the competition for the Stevenson Trophy were the Blair Fraser team - Thomas Sloan played the last stones, Blair skipped and threw third, Scott Fraser played second and Thomas Muirhead was at lead. They beat Hamilton McMillan, Rori MacPherson, Andi Lock and Hamish McGeoch in the final.

In the photo above, Nancy Murdoch, the Royal Club's Performance Development Coach, presents the Stevenson trophy for the Lockerbie event to L-R Thomas Muirhead, Blair Fraser, Thomas Sloan and Scott Fraser.

The big prize of course, on offer to the overall winners of the Slam and to the best junior women's team, was the opportunity to attend the WCF Summer Camp in Fussen in July. The latter was won by Jennifer Dodds (skip), Tasha Aitken (3rd), Mairi Girvan (2nd) and Mhairi Anderson (lead). The team reached the last four in three events to be the top raked women's team.

The overall Slam title was not so easily decided. Two teams, skipped by Alan Inch and Colin Dick, were tied on the same number of points, on the basis of their best three performances in the Slam events they had participated in. An extra six end game was held at Lockerbie. Down 2-3 in the sixth, Alan Inch, Craig Waddell, Andrew Ballantyne and Kyle Waddell lay the shot needed to peel with one stone remaining. A draw to the four foot to count a second would give them the win and a trip to Germany. The young Hamilton skip was just too heavy, and the game went to an extra end! Drama indeed!

Colin Dick, Anna Sloan, Lauren Gray and Alice Spence (substituting for Struan Wood who was sidelined with illness for the final weekend) were not successful in keeping the front of the house clear in the seventh. But Alan could not get his last behind the cover and Colin had an open hit with his final stone, successfully executed, and it would be the Dick team who will be bound for Fussen.

The photo of the Dick team is here. Two others follow.

Overall best women's team in the Slam L-R: Jennifer Dodds, Tasha Aitken, Mairi Girvan and Mhairi Anderson.

Alan Inch and Colin Dick in the Slam decider.
Photos by Bob.

REAL Curling!

Never mind all the other curling that is going on indoors this weekend at Lockerbie, Greenacres, Perth and Berne, this is the important venue! Curlers up north played their Deeside Curling Association Bonspiel today. It was held on the curling pond at Tarland (which is not far from Ballater on Royal Deeside - details here) and the Scottish Curler correspondent (Royal Club Board Member Anne Malcolm) reports that conditions were fantastic - wonderful, keen ice and blue skies!

Is that not magic!

The Barclay Harvey trophy was won by the Tarland Club with Balmoral the runners-up.

And from the photo below, they didn't stop as it got dark!

Many thanks to Anne Malcom for the photos. The Editor is very jealous! But we did have snow this morning at Lockerbie.

January Scottish Curler

Here it is, the January Scottish Curler magazine, now in the mail to subscribers. Have you got a subscription? If not, you can download the subscription form here! Please support Scotland's independent curling magazine.

What's in this month's magazine? The main story of course is the success of the Scottish teams at the European Championships, and there are some great photographs by Richard Gray of the event.

The Editor gets interviewed by Maryel - now that is revealing! Copey speaks out with his usual humour in Behind the Glass with his comments on 'The Great B Road Stooshie', amongst other things. John Minnaar speculates on how much it should cost to build a four sheet curling rink. Broomhall CC is Club of the Month and David B Smith illustrates the riches to be found in dusty volumes in The Historical Bit. And Gordie Kennedy suggests ways that the Royal Club needs to change for the better!

Plus the regular Curling World, Looking Back, iCurl, Rock Rules, Sweepings and The Extra End features. Lots to read and enjoy. I hope you will.... read and enjoy it, that is!

Weekend preview 4: U-17 Slam decider

The final Under-17 event of the season takes place this weekend at Lockerbie, the fifth in the Slam series. The event was postponed from the beginning of the season because of the rink's late opening. The four other venues have been Perth, Greenacres, Hamilton and Pitlochry.

Colin Dick and his mixed rink of Anna Sloan, Lauren Gray and Struan Wood won the Atholl competition and, on the basis of their best three performances, have the same number of points as Alan Inch, Kyle Waddell, Andrew Ballantyne and Craig Waddell from the Lanarkshire rink. The prize for the overall winners of the Slam are places at the World Curling Federation's summer camp in Fussen!

The same prizes are on offer in the junior women's section where Hannah Fleming and her team are just four points ahead of Tasha Aitken's side.

All are playing at Lockerbie tomorrow. The results will be here.

Weekend preview 3: Seniors begin with new sponsorship

Three of the qualifying sections for the Scottish Senior Men's Championship will be held this weekend at Greenacres. The draw and results are here. The event has a new sponsor - the House of Bruar. The announcement was made today, and may be found here.

The sections are as follows. In Section A are the teams skipped by Ronnie Peat (Greenacres), Clark Stewart (Kirkcaldy), Iain Baxter (Murrayfield), Ian Alexander (Ayr), Gordon Butler (Greenacres) and Ian Gillespie (Waterfront).

Section B has David Robertson (Greenacres), Ritchie Stewart (Stirling), Graeme Adam (Dumfries), John Summers (Braehead) and Bob Smellie (Murrayfield).

Jim Beckett (Greenacres), Alan McDougall (Braehead), Gary MacFarlane (Braehead), Ken Watson (Stirling) and Billy Nairn (Lockerbie) are in Section C.

Two teams qualify from each section for the finals at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton, February 14-17. A further fifteen teams, including the Keith Prentice rink, the holders of the Scottish title and World Senior Champs, contest the remaining places in the finals at qualifying rounds at Aberdeen, January 18-20.

Eighteen women's teams have entered the House of Bruar Scottish Seniors Championship but no qualification rounds will be played. The Senior Women's Finals are at Hamilton, February 14-17. The draw for that event has already been posted on the Royal Club website here.

Weekend preview 2: Scottish Championship gets underway

The twenty-eight entries for the 2008 Bruadar Scottish Championship will play in four sections in the qualifying competition. The first games are this weekend at the Dewar's Rinks, Perth, with the remaining matches to be held February 1-3. The full draw is here.

Lee McLeary (Kinross), John Hamilton (Murrayfield), Logan Gray (Stirling), Jamie Kirk (Lochgoil), David Murdoch (Lockerbie), Allan Manuel (Braehead) and David Stobo (Lanarkshire) are in Section A.

Section B comprises Scott Hamilton (Lockerbie), Graham Shaw (Perth), Robin Halliday (Dumfries), Graham Patrick (Murrayfield), David Edwards (Aberdeen), Mark Buchan (Aberdeen) and Warwick Smith (Perth).

In section C are Colin Hamilton (Murrayfield), Keith MacLennan (Atholl), Greg Drummond (Forfar), Gordon Muirhead (Atholl), Gerard Grant (Kinross), Alan Smith (Galleon) and Christopher Kerr (Aberdeen).

Craig Reid (Galleon), Alan Chalmers (Perth), Drew Howie (Greenacres), Peter Loudon (Perth), David Steel (Kirkcaldy), Tom Brewster (Aberdeen) and Glen Muirhead (Atholl) are in section D.

The top two teams in each section will qualify for the Bruadar Scottish Finals, February 19-24. That makes eight teams. The third placed teams in each section will play a tie-break game to find the remaining two teams needed to make up the ten required for the Scottish Finals. Who plays who in these tie-breaks will be done by drawing lots with the four skips involved.

Weekend preview 1: Berne Ladies

Kelly Wood (photo below), Claire Milne and Sarah Reid are the three Scottish teams in the draw for the Bernese Ladies Cup competition this weekend. The WCT-e event is a thirty-two team triple knockout. The first round draw is here.

Sheila Swan substitutes for Alison Black in the Reid team for this event.

Four Canadian teams will be in Switzerland for the Berne competition, and Kelly Scott, the world champs, will stay on in Europe for the Glynhill Ladies International at Braehead, January 18-20. So too will Moe Meguro's Japanese side who are already qualified for the World Championships in Vernon in March.

Incidentally, photos of all the teams taking part in the Glynhill Invitation at Braehead are now on the event website here.

Kelly Wood skipped her team to silver medals at the European Championships in Fussen. Photo by Bob.

Reorganisation of sport funding bodies in Scotland

It has been announced today (Wednesday Jan 9) that sportscotland is to merge with the Scottish Institute of Sport to create a new national organisation. The full press release is here. 'New Dawn for Scottish Sport' is the headline.

Sport Minister Stewart Maxwell said that the new organisation would be "leaner and more efficient, removing the layers of bureaucracy of the previous structure, while making sure the interests of sport remain paramount." However, no redundancies are expected.

The new organisation will retain the name sportscotland but the headquarters will move to Glasgow. The Boards of sportscotland and the Scottish Institute of Sport are to merge. The new body will be responsible for overseeing the development of sport at all levels in Scotland, dispensing both Government and Lottery funding.

The Scottish Institute of Sport as an entity will apparently remain intact at their Stirling HQ. The SIS supports the 'elite' curlers in Scotland.

The ramifications of the announcement and its effect on our sport of curling, which receives considerable funding from sportscotland for many purposes, remains to be seen.

However, Mike Ferguson, the Royal Club's Chairman said, “The Royal Caledonian Curling Club has been involved with the consultations which have been taking place over the last few months regarding the future of sportscotland. We are pleased that the Scottish Government have listened and that the views of the Scottish Governing Bodies of Sport including the Royal Club have been taken into account when shaping the way forward for sportscotland and that a National Agency has been retained. We look forward to working with the merged sportscotland/Scottish Institute of Sport to ensure that curling remains one of the most prominent sports for the nation and for the delivery of national sports policy in Scotland. To this end meetings have already been arranged with senior figures to discuss matters in greater detail.”

There is a thread on the topic on the Scottish Curling Forum here.

European Junior Challenge: Extra ends decide winners

Germany's girls will be in the draw at Ostersund, Sweden, for the World Junior Championship in March. In the final of the European Junior Challenge at Prague today (Monday, Jan 7), Germany beat Italy in the final 4-3 after an extra end.

In the junior men's event the Czech Republic beat Poland, also after an extra end, to qualify that country for the World competition.

The linescores are here. And the website for the World Junior Championships is here.

Perth: The Final

Well, it came down to an all Canada final at the Ramada Perth Masters! World Champion Team Glenn Howard faced Kerry Burtnyk's side for the top prize. All the results and linescores can be found here.

The entry of the gladiators, piped in by Eve Muirhead.

There were so many wanting to watch that the Dewar's Rinks arranged extra parking spaces. This is Glenn Howard avoiding the West End Garage traffic. He stole the first three ends.

Kerry Burtnyk checks that his equipment is in the correct hand! (That's an old 8-Ender broom he uses to slide with!)

Team Howard muscle a stone into the house. They took three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead.

Colourful they were but the Burtnyk four had to settle for second place on this visit to Scotland.

Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill with the Perth Masters trophy.

Pics by Bob.

Four more qualifiers at Perth

The four qualifiers at the Ramada Perth Masters from the C Road are:

Alan Smith and his team, at the last stone of an extra end against Tom Brewster.

Logan Gray's team who stole two in the fourth against Yusuke Morozumi's Japanese side for a 5-1 lead, and always looked the winners.

Gordon Muirhead's team with Duncan Fernie playing the last stones, who were two up coming home against Tormod Andreassen's Norwegians and kept it clean for the win.

And Switzerland's Ralph Stockli who took the handshakes from Warwick Smith after five ends, the Scots 5-0 down.

Photos by Bob.

All the linescores are here, and we're set for the quarterfinals on Sunday!

Perth Masters update

World Champ Glenn Howard grits his teeth as he tries to dispose of Alan Smith and his team!

Thomas Ulsrud of Norway, serene as always!

Team Burtnyk in action. Another photo is here.

L-R: Euan Byers, Peter Smith and David Murdoch discuss options.

Right, where are we? Who's made it through to the playoffs at the Ramada Perth Masters? Well, David Murdoch and Kerry Burtnyk came through the A Road undefeated. The two qualifiers from B have just been decided. Thomas Ulsrud had an easy passage against the Japanese, and the fourth team would be the winner of the game against Alan Smith and Glenn Howard.

Smith and Howard had met earlier, with Smith the winner then. In the rematch, Smith was one up playing the last and looked at least to have forced Howard to a single and an extra end. But the world champion played a great shot to engineer two shots for a win, and make sure his team would be playing on Sunday morning.

Above are four pics of the qualifiers so far, with the last round in C just going on the ice now, with four games to decide the final four qualifiers for the final stages. I'll update this later.

The full results are here.

Prague European Junior Challenge update

So, who's looking to be in the mix when it comes down to the playoffs at the European Junior Challenge in Prague? Frederike Templin (above) of Germany and local Anna Kubeshkova were unbeaten after three games in the junior women's event.

In the junior men's competition the Czech Republic and France were undefeated in Group A after three games, with Poland and Italy enbeaten after two in Group B.

You can see the standings here, and the detailed results from Thursday and Friday here. The background to the event is outlined here.

Frederike's photo is courtesy of Keith Wendorf of the WCF. More photos are in a gallery on the official website here.

Pics from Perth

It may have involved a battle through the snow to get to Perth, but the Ramada Perth Masters is well underway and showcasing some great curling. Find all the results here, and watch a video stream by following the webcam link here.

Here are some photos.

World Champ Glenn Howard was dispatched to the B Road by Alan Smith and his team.

This pic of Alan is also to point out that the West End Garage Broughty Ferry is the presenting sponsor.

Kerry Burtnyk and his team discuss options.

Yusuke Morozumi has brought his Japanese team halfway across the world.

Good to see umpire Christine Shaw back in action!

The photos above are by Bob. For more photos go here.

European Junior Challenge

There may be no direct Scottish interest this year, but one of the most important competitions for junior curlers takes place this weekend in Prague. The first games of the European Junior Challenge are today (Thursday) in the rink in Prague. Junior men's teams from twelve countries, and junior women's teams from eight nations, will fight it out to get to the World Junior Championships in Ostersund, March 1-9.

Because the World event will take place in Europe this year, the lineup at Ostersund will include two teams from North America, one from the Pacific region and seven from Europe with Sweden, as host, having an automatic place. Another five European countries which finished highest in Eveleth at last season's WJCC (these include Scotland) are going to Ostersund, and these will be joined by the winner from this weekend in Prague.

In last year's WJMCC, it was the Czech Republic which finished in tenth place, and was relegated. Kristof Chaloupek's team has home ice advantage in an attempt to get his country back into the World lineup. Not an easy task, with eleven other teams contesting! The men play in two sections, and then playoffs.

Last year at the WJWCC, things were a little different. The Swedish girls had not qualified, and did not compete at Eveleth. However, Sweden is host this year, and must be in the draw at Ostersund. That meant that two countries were relegated, and there is only one place available for a qualifying team. Italy finished tenth (on 1-8) and went down. The Czech Republic were ninth on 2-7 and were also forced into prequalifying. Anna Kubeshkova, who played at Lockerbie just before Christmas, skips her team in the Prague event, a single round robin with playoffs.

Anna Kubeshkova at Lockerbie. Photo by Bob.

Happy New Year!

Competitive curling in 2008 begins with a bang at the Dewar's Rinks in Perth as the Ramada Perth Masters gets underway tomorrow. The first games are at 4.45 pm Thursday, January 3. The full draw can be found here.

World Champion Glenn Howard (below) is the star attraction in the thirty-two team field which also includes the top names from Scotland and Europe. The event will be run as a triple knockout.

There will be a live video feed from the event using new P2P software from Rawflow. A test broadcast is already running. Check it out and get set up by following the webcam link from the Perth Masters website here.

The Perth Masters is the only World Curling Tour-Europe event in Scotland for the men, although the new Glynhill Ladies Invitation is set for Braehead in a couple of weeks time.

Photo by Richard Gray