Lucy's fan club welcomes their heroine to Braehead

Yes, they're here. All the hassles of last year behind them when they were delayed by the Heathrow air crash, the Russian squad, three teams, have arrived safely at Braehead for the Glynhill Ladies International which begins tomorrow.

Liudmila Privivkova's fan club president, Ian Mackin (photo to follow), was in the welcoming party, as was a scrum of media! Well, Curling Today was there and Stable Recordings who will be making the video record for posterity. That's Lucy above.

Ian of course is the Glynhill website webmaster, and you can follow all the results thanks to his efforts here.

I managed a visit to Hamilton today, to see the Canadian tourists, the South group, in action against Lanarkshire Province. Here's a few pics of what that was like!

Lockhart Steele leads the Lanarkshire Province teams on to the ice behind the piper.

It is certainly a bit of an occasion!

A pose for the local press photographer.

This is Ron Belden whose team was up against Lockhart's side. Find how they got on here.

Ron's team and the welcome banner, the Lanarkshire Ice Rink well dressed for the occasion!

I asked Willie Young, the Scottish courier for the early part of the tour, who were the 'characters' amongst the Canadians. He immediately pointed to Gus Claveau, seen here. Welcome to Scotland, Gus!

Pics by Bob.