CURLING TODAY

New curling blog

2009-08-29T22:17:00.002+01:00

Bob's new curling blog is here.

Skip Cottage

2009-04-13T09:51:00.001+01:00

Bob's blog is now here.

Become a blogally today!

Scottish Curler future

2009-04-02T00:05:00.001+01:00

The Scottish Curler magazine has been saved! The reaction of subscribers to the news that it would not be published after this season has led to a change of mind at Clyde and Forth Press.

The publishers have made the following statement:

"Following the recent announcement that the Scottish Curler was to close, its publisher Clyde & Forth Press Ltd, has received a huge amount of feedback from readers disappointed that the magazines was to cease publication after the May edition.

In light of this feedback it has been decided to continue the publication next season.

With Bob's impending retirement after a tremendous tenure as Editor we will work to create a new editorial perspective and the Curler will emerge for the 2009/10 season full of life and raring to go."

However unexpected this news, I welcome it and I am delighted that the title is to continue as a print magazine. The first Scottish Curler was published in January 1954.

Bob

The End

2009-03-24T00:07:00.003Z

If you are missing Curling Today, please go here.

I refer to my previous post here. The April Scottish Curler magazine goes to print tomorrow with the following statement from the publisher, Clyde and Forth Press:

"Despite our exhaustive efforts to find a new publisher for the Scottish Curler we have not been successful. Therefore, regrettably, the Scottish Curler will cease to be published after the forthcoming May edition. Subscribers who have paid for editions into next season will have outstanding amount from their subscriptions refunded. Readers will receive a direct communication to this effect in due course."

I would like to thank all those who have supported the magazine during my tenure as Editor over the past seven years, and to all who have contributed, especially the Team - you know who you are!

This news means that this is the last post on the Curling Today blog, whose purpose has been to promote and support the magazine.

This link is to my own personal blog (it's an addiction) if you want to follow what the future holds for me. There may even be the odd piece of curling news there. If you want to contribute to discussions on the future of curling communication in Scotland, then the Scottish Curler Forum is where to go.

Curling Today's old posts (all 864 of them) will stay live for a while.

David Smith and I intend to continue with the Curling History blog, and maybe I'll have time soon to contribute more to this.

I'm still looking for your memories of the Scottish Curler, which was first published in January 1954, for the final May issue. These and personal messages can be sent to: Hoglinewamphray /at/ live.com, or to the addressses in the front of the printed magazine.

Thank you to all who have read and followed the blog, and goodbye for now.

Bob

Cupar progress

2009-03-23T13:51:00.005Z

The Fife Curling Trust are progressing their plans for a curling facility in Cupar. Our previous post about the project is here. The news today is that a site has been secured in Duffus Park in partnership with Cupar Cricket Club. The cricket club will utilise the building in the summer months, thus giving the facility year round activity and revenue and fostering a sense of community round the facility. They will obviously use it for changing and clubhouse facilities and also use the ice hall for indoor practice during inclement weather.

Both Elmwood College and Bell Baxter High School, which are close by, are keen to utilise the curling rink for their students!

The prospectus is now available, see here. Now really is the time for curlers in the local area, and throughout Scotland, to get behind the project! I'm going to buy a brick, I hope you will too.

The Trust Chairman, David Steel, says, "Now we have a definite timescale to work to and hopefully all going well, we will be operational for Sept 2010."

April 09 - issue building tender
May 09 - appoint preferred main contractor
May 09 - stage 1 sportscotland application
June 09 - detailed planning application
Oct 09 - Stage 2 sportscotland application
Dec 09 - sportscotland decision
Spring 2010 - Start construction
Sept 2010 - Open new ice rink

Best wishes to all involved. Make the dream a reality! Scottish curling needs this to happen.

Scottish Wheelchair Curling Championship

2009-03-23T13:12:00.005Z

The Scottish Wheelchair Championship was held at Curl Aberdeen at the weekend.

The semis matched Gregor Ewan’s Moray team against Mo Simpson’s Highland side, and Michael McCreadie, Braehead, faced Jim Sellar of South Lanarkshire. All the results and linescores can be found here. Ewan and McCreadie progressed to contest the final.

Gerald Pocock, Jim Elliot, Aileen Neilson and skip Michael McCreadie stole a single at the fifth to lead 5-3. But the title was decided on the last stone in the eighth end. The Braehead skip had to tap back an Elgin shot to win, and did so. Gregor Ewan, Norman Anderson, Jim Gault and Michael Mackenzie were the runners-up.

Above L-R: Aileen Neilson, Michael McCreadie, Gerald Pocock and Jim Elliot with the trophy. Photo by Judy Mackenzie. Thanks to Judy for this and the report.

Pairs and Gatherings

2009-03-22T17:31:00.009Z

Royal Club Manager of Competitions, Colin Hamilton, not only organises the main events, but he usually plays in them too. And wins them. Today at Stranraer, with Sean Murphy, he captured the National Pairs title, for the third time, following previous success with Vic Moran in 1989 and Trevor Dodds in 1991. Find all the results here.

Now, thanks to Scottish Curler team member Robin Copland for the following:

"For the past five years one of the highlights of the curling year in Edinburgh has been the International Curlers Gathering organised by Colin McCall and the Penicuik Curling Club. This year’s competition was no exception and curlers travelled to the event from Canada, St Petersburg in Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Slovakia and Germany. There were eleven foreign teams in total, the other seventeen teams being Scottish.

All the teams were asked to identify themselves. Some did so in traditional style – thus the Musketeers and Merchiston; others tried a mix of the old and the new, for example the Inverkeithing Royals; then there was the plain eccentric – the B-52’s, Medved, the Corrie Fisters, Puigcerda and the unpronouncable AnderChristalwake!

The Musketeers (Hamish Lorrain-Smith, Alan Chalmers, Struan Macnee and John Munro) successfully defended their title.

This competition is about much more than winning and losing; it really is a celebration of curling and the making and renewing of curling friendships. A successful ceilidh was enjoyed by many of the competitors on the Saturday night. The rink was filled to bursting throughout the weekend and even the prizegiving ceremony – traditionally attended these days by one man and his dog – was a celebration of the event with the upstairs bar at Murrayfield filled to capacity. The ceremony was chaired by Colin McCall and the prizes were presented by the Rt Hon George Grubb, Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh."

Top: Janet McMillan presents the Pairs trophy to Sean Murphy and Colin Hamilton. Photo courtesy of Gail McMillan.

Above: The winning Musketeers with the Lord Provost. L-R: Alan Chalmers, John Munro, Rt Hon George Grubb, Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, Hamish Lorrain-Smith and Struan Macnee. Photo courtesy of Robin Copland.

"Haggis gets a bad rap"

2009-03-20T23:02:00.005Z

If you have a spare twenty minutes this weekend, then have a listen to Dean Gemmell's interview with David Murdoch on The Curling Show.

The relaxed Murdoch talks about team selection, practice, his daily routine as a professional curler, promotion of the sport in Scotland, blue blazers, and representing GB, as well as many other things. How do you think he responds when asked about Vernon - the Watergate of Scottish Curling? Listen in and find out!

If you have heard The Curling Show before, you will be used to Gemmell's style. If not, then you might find the whole thing a bit odd. But David handles the interview with his usual professionalism, and listening to it will be revealing to those who don't know him as a person.

David Murdoch pic by Bob.

How to speak Korean

2009-03-19T10:52:00.003Z

The end of the curling season is rushing towards us. This weekend sees the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Championship at Curl Aberdeen, and the National Pairs at Stranraer. I'm relegated to following the results from the Royal Club website, as I suspect many of you will too.

Of course, it's all happening on the other side of the world. Gangneung, Korea, is the venue for the Mount Titlis World Women's Championship. That's our team above - Isobel Hannen is coach, Jackie Lockhart is alternate, Anne Laird lead, Rachael Simms second, Karen Addison third and Eve Muirhead skip. And the event mascot is on the left!

No-one is really expecting the team to be in the medal zone. For many of us, it will be entirely satisfactory if the women put up a good show, enjoy themselves on and off the ice, and come home as a team without any controversy! RCCC Ladies' Branch President Sheila Miller has been learning a few words of Korean. When I saw her at the airport on Tuesday, as we met the Juniors home from Vancouver, she was practising some Korean phrases (see here). For those interested in language studies, and how the language is written, see more about Hangul here.

"Jjimjilbangeun iyonghaji aneulgeomnida" - I don't want to use the sauna room
"Yogi kyesanso chom kacho-oseyo" - Please bring me the check
"Matsaji seobiseureul batkko sipseumnida" - Our team has four players this year.

Anyway, enough nonsense. The Scots open their account against the home favourites on Saturday. The event website is here (beware sound). Mike Haggerty will be in Korea, and his first words are on the Royal Club website here, with reports after every one of the eleven Scottish games.

This is the venue. It houses two ice rinks, one on the ground floor, the other in the basement.

And this is the hotel where the officials and VIPs are staying. Yes, it does look like a ship which has run aground. Is there some sort of hidden inference here?

Team pic by Bob. Others from the event website.

How the Gold was won

2009-03-18T09:07:00.004Z

Two years ago I was able to watch the World Junior final from Eveleth, as a webcast on my computer. Last year, the game was also available as a webcast, a joint venture between the WCF and Curlingkanalen. This year... nothing!

Is this progress? No it is not. We are going backwards in the promotion of the sport. We should all be bombarding the World Curling Federation and telling those in charge that they really should be getting the finger out, and thinking about the junior game, and thinking about us fans!

But Grumpy here is digressing. What brought on this morning's rant was that someone has gone to the trouble to post a video of the last couple of stones of the final on You Tube. Well done, and many many thanks to GoF for this. The link is here. And I've embedded it below. Enjoy.

Jim Law's photo above shows the position after Eve's last stone, and before Kaitlyn's final delivery. The Canadians are in a timeout. The video shows how the Scotland stone got there and what happened next.

Welcome home

2009-03-17T21:25:00.006Z

In all my years involved with this great sport of ours, nothing gives me more pleasure that to be at the airport when a team comes back home from international duty with medals around their necks. So there I was at Edinburgh this evening to see our teams back from the World Junior Championships in Vancouver. Not all have come home - Eve Muirhead and Isobel Hannen are on their way to Korea for the Mount Titlis World Women's event. However, here are the others, tired yes, but looking great after their trip.

Back L-R: Alan Hannah, Graeme Black, Thomas Sloan, Steven Mitchell, Ally Fraser, Glen Muirhead. Front: Kay Adams, Sarah Macintyre, Vicki Adams, Anna Sloan, Rhona Martin.

Graeme Black, skip of the boys' team, was still disappointed that his team finished in seventh equal place, but he has learned much from the experience. And of course Scotland's junior men have a place at next year's event in Flims. All the team were full of praise for the girls who captured the gold medals.

And here are four of them: Kay, Sarah, Vicki and Anna.

A lot has made made of the fact that Eve Muirhead has won three gold medals at consecutive World Championships - the skip after all tends to get the attention - but let's celebrate Sarah's achievement tonight. The Strathclyde University student has three golds too, from Eveleth, from Ostersund and from Vancouver. Many congratulations Sarah, it is quite an achievement and makes all members of the front end union very happy!

Pics by Bob.

World Junior Champions

2009-03-16T00:03:00.009Z

Eve Muirhead (skip), Anna Sloan (3rd), Vicki Adams (2nd), Sarah Macintyre (lead), Kay Adams (alternate), Isobel Hannen (coach). We salute you! Well done to you all. Proud of you, we all are!

The results and stats are all here (as well as whole albums of photos, just follow the Sevices link on the sidebar). Read Mike Haggerty's report of the final against Canada here, and the WCF reports are here.

Photos and report of the Championships will be in the April Scottish Curler, courtesy of Jim Law, as is the pic above.

Rink Championship

2009-03-15T23:07:00.026Z

So what has this fuzzy old pic got to do with anything? Read on, and it should become clear!

Allan MacLennan (lead), Graeme Adam (skip), Ken Horton (3rd) and Stuart Naismith (2nd), representing Reform CC from Greenacres, with the RCCC Rink Championship trophy which they won today at the Galleon Rink, Kilmarnock. All the results are here.

The runners-up, from Keir CC, Stirling, were John Dewar (lead), Judith McFarlane (skip), Barbara McFarlane (3rd) and Andrew McAughtrie (2nd).

Judith, who is the Royal Club's Development Manager, skipped a great game in the final, making a number of fine doubles too. Adam was one up with the hammer playing the last end and had an open hit for the game.

This was the shot in the sixth end which changed the game. Jude had just made a great double takeout and lay beind the corner, with another counter in the house, and last stone advantage. Allan and Stuart are horsing their skip's stone, to make it lie perfectly frozen. And Judith had no choice but to play a straightforward draw for a single. But she was just heavy, gave up one against the head, and the game advantage!

Scott Hamilton

Moray Combe practising a little meditation on the release!

Lois, aka Mrs Copey!

Forfar skip Alan White

'Whoa,' says Alan.

The former Scottish Senior Champions were in good form. Here Ken Horton joins in to help Allan MacLennan and Stuart Naismith on skip Graeme Adam's stone.

Sarah Reid, recovered from her Harbin adventures.

A touch of nostalgia for me. Anyone else have longings after a pair of Spogos?

I'm not sure who calls him this!

Ken Horton and Graeme Adam. Ken was just 14, and Graeme 17 when they won the Rink Championship in the 1970-71 season. It has taken them a few years (you work it out) to come back and try to win it again. Quite a record for the two of them - they are unbeaten in the competition! Now here's a wee competition for you. Who were their teammates in 1971, who were they representing, and where was the championship played? I bet John ML Brown, the Scottish Curler correspondent and sometime quizmaster, will know the answer to this one!

Hair of the day. Craig Gudmundson

Judith doing her traffic warden impersonation.

Trevor Dodds

RCCC Finance and Admin Manager Alastair Hibbert

Lindsay Scotland

David Mundell and Jimmy Waddell

The top photo (courtesy of Leslie Ingram-Brown, from the Scottish Curler archive) shows Ken Horton, Peter Adam (Graeme's dad), Graeme Adam, John Brown, Ian Webster, and 'Mr Horton' (as we all called him, Ken's dad, to whom many young curlers in these early days in Crossmyloof owed so much). See John's comments below.

Scottish Schools Championship

2009-03-15T22:02:00.031Z

The Lockerbie Academy team of (L-R) Hannah Fleming (skip), Kimberley Smith (3rd), Alice Spence (2nd) and Kirsten McNay (lead) won the Scottish Schools Championship at Ayr today. They defeated Garnock Academy in the final. All the results and linescores are here.

The Garnock Academy team: (L-R) Stuart Marshall (2nd), Frazer Keil (lead), Greg Matthew (3rd), Gavid Reid (skip). Here are some pics from today's semifinals and from yesterday.

Tasha Aitken and her team of Becca Kesley, Mhairi Anderson and Abi Brown so nearly made it an all-girls' final. Had Tasha's last guard drawn over just an inch more in the semifinal, Gavin Reid would not have been able to see enough of the Mary Eskine School shot to attempt a chip out.

This pic appeals to me! Abi Brown, Becca Kesley, Mhairi Anderson

Given the chance with last stone of the semifinal, Gavin was right on target to secure his team's place in the final.

Gavin Reid and Tasha Aitken

A tough one for Becca Kesley in the semi - a pulled thigh muscle left her unable to sweep.

Stranraer Academy's Rori Macpherson, here with sweepers Hamish McGeoch and Andy Lock (Ian Kirkpatrick is in the house), found the Lockerbie girls too strong for them in the other semifinal.

Another of the Stranraer team in action

Hannah Fleming. Grand young curler, great skip.

Curling is all about attention to detail. This young curler (identity concealed) is doing just that. Note the colour co-ordination!

Bell Baxter's Blair Jeffrey

Kimberley Smith watches that umpire Ron Tosh is doing the measure correctly!

Hamilton Grammar's Kyle and Craig Waddell watch as Garnock's Greg Matthew calls line.

Hamilton Academy's front end John Ballantyne and Rachel Hannen.

Merchiston Castle's Grant Hardie

Craigmount High's Mhairi Baird
It's Thai silk!

Merchiston's Hamilton McMillan

Loudon Academy's Euan Cunningham is getting excited. Perth Academy's Kyle and Cammy Smith behind.

Perth's Kyle Smith

Currie Community High's skip Rebecca Steven.

Fiona Munro is Currie's third, here caught in mid delivery!

Lockerbie's Kirsten McNay and Alice Spence.

Dollar Academy's Jayne Stirling

Umpire Carolyn Hibberd was one of the very first competitors in the Glasgow Schools' League when it began at Crossmyloof.... not that long ago actually!

Ewan Davidson of Douglas Ewart High gets the Editor's award for the most colouful player on the ice!

Well done to all who took part. All pics by Bob - if I have labelled any incorrectly let me know!

Scotland in World Junior Final

2009-03-14T07:25:00.006Z

Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre won their Page 1-2 playoff game in Vancouver. The Scots beat Switzerland's Martina Baumann 7-4 to advance to Sunday's championship final at the 2009 World Junior Curling Championships. Guaranteed silver, they will now meet the winner of the Canada-Switzerland semifinal for gold. Great show, girls!

The linescores and stats are here. Mike Haggerty's report is here.

Scottish Juniors in Page 1-2

2009-03-12T23:05:00.000Z

Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre are just one win away from the final of the World Junior Championship in Vancouver's Olympic Centre. The Scots finished their round robin by beating the Czech Republic, and sat out the last round, waiting to see how the other games went. It was Anna Kubeskova's Czech team that was to do the Scots a favour, beating the Russians by stealing three in the tenth end. Sweden, who had not qualified for the playoffs, upset the home favourites and Anna Hasselborg's team pushed Kaitlyn Lawes' Canadians into the Page 3-4, by beating them 7-4.

That left just two teams at the top of the rankings on seven wins and two losses. So, Scotland plays Switzerland in the Page 1-2 game on Friday 7 pm local time, early hours of Saturday here. Canada plays Russia in the Page 3-4. You will find the results, linescores and stats here.

Above is a Jim Law photo from the Scotland v Czech Republic game. Vicki and Sarah are the sweepers on Anna Sloan's stone, with Eve in the house, as Anna Kubeskova looks on. Kay Adams, Isobel Hannen and Rhona Martin are on the coaches' bench behind.

Anna Sloan delivers with Sarah Macintyre and Vicki Adams ready to sweep.

Eve Muirhead
Pics by Jim Law

What's next?

2009-03-12T00:10:00.001Z

I'm looking ahead to this weekend. The major event is of course the RCCC Rink Championship at the Galleon Centre. Twenty-four teams play in four sections, and the first games are on the ice at 09.00 tomorrow, Friday. Quarters, semis and finals are on Sunday. The draw is here.

I'm looking forward too to seeing something of the Schools Championship. Twenty-four teams from twenty different schools will play in four sections, beginning at 11.00 tomorrow, at the Ayr rink. Quarters, semis and finals are on Sunday. The results will be here.

Dollar Academy are in the draw. That's the team in the photo above with the Miller Drummond trophy which they won at the final at Braehead last Saturday. Photo by Bob. L-R: Tom Haddow (3rd), Jayne Stirling (2nd), Ruairidh Macdonald (skip) and Duncan Filipkiewitz (lead).

Now, a little history about schools' curling. The Scottish Schools' Championship was first held in 1967. But schools had been participating in the sport for some years prior to that. There was an active schools' league at Crossmyloof on Saturday morning ice in the early 60s. The first inter-city games took place in the 1961-62 season, see below!

I found this pic recently in the March 1962 Scottish Curler. The legend reads, "The happy group of schoolboy curlers in the second Hutchesons' Grammar School v George Watson's College match at Edinburgh Ice Rink."

Can you recognise a fourteen-year old future Scottish Curler editor (front row, third from left)? Click on photo to enlarge!

Royal Club Members

2009-03-11T10:31:00.004Z

Alastair Hibbert, the Royal Club's Finance and Administration Manager, has written to all club secretaries to encourage them to use the new online system, which went live today, to submit their annual returns.

You can find all about the database in the pdf document which can be downloaded from here.

The Royal Club hopes that all will find the new database useful and that it will help secretaries and club members to communicate effectively.

World Juniors in Flims next year

2009-03-09T14:19:00.018Z

The World Curling Federation has announced that the World Junior Curling Championships will return to Flims, Switzerland, next year, to the newly-opened Wildhaus Arena (above).

Switzerland has hosted three previous World Junior Championships, at Grindelwald in 1978 and 1993, and at Flims in 2003. "The World Curling Federation is honoured to return to Flims and the new Waldhaus Arena for the 2009 World Juniors," said Les Harrison, WCF President.
"Swiss curling has embraced the youth game and Swiss junior teams are always close to the podium at our championships. It will be a real thrill for the 2010 Swiss champions to compete against the world's best at this magnificent new venue."

"Considering this is only the Waldhaus Arena's first season, it is a great honour for the Flims Curling Club to host such a prestigious event," said club president Edi Crameri.

Ralph Stoeckli, the 2003 world men's finalist, a 2006 Olympian and also the 2009 champion who will represent Switzerland at next month's Ford World Men's Curling Championship in Moncton, said, "Flims is a great winter sport city and the new Waldhaus Arena is a fantastic venue. It will be a real pleasure to see Flims welcome the world in 2010."

See the full press release here.

While I'm talking about junior events, I hope you have been following the progress of Scotland's teams at this year's World Junior Championships. Curlit's results and stats are here, and Mike Haggerty's reports are here. Curling Today is not (sadly) in Vancouver. However, Jim Law is there gathering material for a report in the April Scottish Curler magazine. He has his camera with him, and taking photos. Here is a selection of Jim's pics to salute our teams!

Eve Muirhead

Anna Sloan

Vicki Adams

Sarah Macintyre

(Alternate Kay Adams has not been on the ice so far)

Graeme Black

Ally Fraser

Stevie Mitchell

Thomas Sloan

Alternate Glen Muirhead played against the Russians in the Scottish team's fourth round game.

Unders or Overs: You Decide

2009-03-09T09:37:00.005Z

Ladies' Branch President Sheila Miller with the winners of the Unders and Overs Competition which was held at Braehead on Saturday and Sunday. L-R: Claire MacDonald, Alison Allison, Emma Craig and Jackie Craig. You can find all the results here. (Thanks to Robin Shand for this photo)

Here is a taste of the event:

Yes, curling IS fun, let none of us forget it. Katy Richardson and Gina Aitken enjoying their game.

And here they are ready to sweep Scottish Champion Karen Addison's stone.

Ladies' Branch Past President Patricia Thompson, with Corinne Shand ready for action.

Margaret Richardson. I'm guessing 'over', but it is so difficult to tell!

Megan Runciman

Kay Gibb and Laura Morris

Demonstration of new Olympic discipline - synchronised curling.

Caption? National Coaching Officer Lynne Robertson and Jennifer Paul.

Jennifer Marshall

Our new Senior Champion Marion Craig - oops gave that one away!

Lynne Robertson and Mhairi Anderson look after Liz Paul's stone.

Emma Craig

Helen King and Alison Allison

Pics by Bob, except for that of the winners.

The Masters Champions

2009-03-08T19:06:00.004Z

Bill Marshall presents the National Masters trophy to Irene Hird (third), Janette Wilson (skip), Norma Brown (second) and Maggie Mauchline (lead). Find the results and linescores here.

Liz Knox presents trophy and prizes in the men's event to the defending champions Billy Beattie (third), Walter Graham (second), Gifford Rickard (skip) and John Gillespie (lead).

Pics by Hugh Stewart.

A look at the Masters

2009-03-08T11:27:00.023Z

I was able to make a couple of visits to Greenacres over the past days to see some of the play in the National Masters Championships. You can find the results all here. Here are some pictorial impressions!

Janette Wilson with an audience!

Jim Bryson with a distinctive sweeping style. The stone has been digitally removed from the pic. Put your X where you think it should be.

Bob Smellie - you all know by now what I would like to say, but I'm not going to say it! It really is awful though, isn't it.

And here's another. Good curler though this week. Jim Stevenson's team made it to the semis.

An aside. This is Lynne, Jim Stevenson's other (some would say, better) half. Lynne, you are hereby appointed as the Scottish Curler fashion correspondent!

Greenacres will be thirty years old in September! Richard, are we having a party?

Hugh Stewart

Isobel Waddell and Maggie Mauchline working hard.

Gifford Rickard

"You know it's really thoughtful of the Greenacres' management to put in this little bench seat behind the head for the oldies' competitions."

Today's caption competition. Liz Boswell and Pat Galloway.

Margaret Paul

Team MacDonald in action.

Greenacres was a busy place this week... especially behind the head on sheet F on Thursday in the Sutherland - Bryson encounter!

Remember the Olympics?

Team Letton action draws attention from an adjacent rink.

Umpire Betty Montgomery gives Gordon McIntyre high style marks.

Willie Shanks

Kirsty Letton

My former skip and old friend David Horton. Great to see him on the ice. I was in David's company last night as we were celebrating friends' Jan and David Howard's 40th wedding anniversary (congratulations to them, and great party too in Skelmorlie). I had found an old photo of David from 1961. Even wife Maureen had difficulty picking him out of the group pic - from the first inter-city schools' match - which will no doubt go up on the History Blog once I accumulate more Crossmyloof memories!

Pics by Bob.

Highland Week

2009-03-08T10:55:00.004Z

Robin Wilson reports on the Highland Week of International Curling at Inverness:

"In Canada if you want to retrieve the family silver you send out a Mountie, here in Scotland you send for a Bobbie.

In Inverness last Friday at the end of the 43rd Highland Week of International Curling it was not one but three Scottish Bobbies, not in blue but tartan, who clamped the Macallan Johnstone trophy in irons and safely delivered it home to Scotland after its two year absence spent in Switzerland and America.

Retired Strathclyde police officer Gordon Gilchrist (Hamilton), with two serving policewomen, Kirsty Harrison (Stranraer) and Mel Porter (Kinross), and civilian fourth member Kevin Thomson (Kirkcaldy), burst open the resistance of the Canadian rink from Toronto of Scott and Connie Brown and Lindsay and Sherry Manery with a final salvo of seven stones over the closing ends to win 12-4 in the final of the Macallan Trophy.

With the high road Glenfarclas Quaich also two years in exile it was guaranteed to complete the Homecoming when two Scottish rinks lined up in the final, Craig Hamilton (Aberdeen) and Gavin Nicol (Forres).

Because of other commitments both skips had to call in substitutes for their final game. Hamilton was left with Tom MacGregor and Andrew Clark and looked to be on a winner when he enlisted former Quaich holder from 1995, Graham Kerr (Nairn), to deputise for Jim Goldie. Against Kerr's pedigree Nicol enlisted the local knowledge of Ice Rink Manager Keith Petrie to help out Jim Thomson and Mike MacDonald for the absent Andrew Cameron.

The result was decided on two measures. Hamilton won the measure for two shots in the tenth end to force an extra, and Nicol's last stone in the eleventh for a winning 10-9 was decided on a measure."

Top: the Warrior Scots, Kevin Thomson (left) and skip Gordon Gilchrist.

Above: the deciding measure in the extra end. Back Keith Petrie and Gavin Nicol. Measuring are Abby Duncan and Alan Durno.

Pics by Robin Wilson

A fuller report on the week, with pics of the winning teams will be in the April Scottish Curler.

Thoughts on the Vernon Report

2009-03-06T19:24:00.002Z

In the March Scottish Curler magazine which has just been published (see here) I speculated on what the Vernon Report would contain. I based this speculation on a number of conversations with those who had already seen the report or knew of its content - the report has apparently had a wide circulation, both official and unofficial, prior to today's release. Reading the actual report today though has been a sobering experience. As those who read the blog know, I don't often editorialise here, but I think most who read my ramblings will expect me to say what I think of it. So, here are some observations.

In discussing the 'interaction between the coaches and team before arriving in Vernon', Michael Nicholson notes that, "None of the five members of the team had worked with Rhona Martin as a team coach. None of Gail Munro, Lyndsay Wilson and Anne Laird had worked with Derek Brown as National Coach. Karen Addison and Lynn Cameron had worked with Derek Brown as National Coach. The team did not meet as a team with the team coach, the national coach or any other coach prior to arriving in Vernon." Was that important? Nicholson concluded that it was, in relation to the events which happened later.

I was saddened to read of the breakdown in relationships within the team between Karen and Gail. Karen had been a key part of the team's success in the 2007-08 season. But the team had been together for just one season, and it had been success all the way. They had not had the experience of losing together! A World Championship is not the place to be experiencing this for the first time. As Karen herself says in her statement, "It is a high-pressure environment competing at that level." The cracks that appeared within the team are described in excruciating detail in the report. Sad to read.

In many cases in the report I am left somewhat mystified about what actually happened in specific situations. Of course, this is often the case in a court of law, when different witnesses have different versions of events. Nicholson is always careful not to take sides. The phrase though he uses often is, "I consider that ............. contributed to the team playing 2 games with 3 players." To take just one example here, consider the following passage which discusses what supposedly happened during a timeout in one game:
4.3.2.2.1.8. Whilst on the face of it the version of this event advanced by Derek Brown, Cate Brewster and Nancy Murdoch is inconsistent with Rhona Martin’s version of the event, in my opinion, having considered the information available to me and on the balance of probabilities it appears more likely to me that the language chosen by Rhona Martin to describe to the other coaches what she described as Gail Munro being “dismissive towards” her may have been mistaken by those that she spoke to as being language used by Gail Munro to her. I did not consider that Rhona Martin was being untruthful in her statement to me in that regard. This, therefore, appeared to me to be an example of poor communication among a number of the coaches. I consider that poor communication contributed to the team playing 2 games with 3 players for the reasons that follow in this report.

'Poor communication among a number of the coaches'! Worrying indeed.

I speculated in the magazine that at Vernon, the team's play was under intense scrutiny with video analysis and reporting of playing statistics, by the 'support staff', and that Lyndsay in particular would not have been used to this. Indeed. It just illustrates the gulf between the teams that have such 'support' and those that have not. I can just imagine Lyndsay's feelings as a video of her falling was replayed over and over again. I thought coaches were supposed to install confidence in players?

Now, I am of the old school which believes that a team revolves around the skip, and he or she is the key to the team. And so it is difficult for me to read about the team debriefs where discussion is about benching the skip. Curling has become like football where players can be pulled off or replaced on a coaches' whim. And at Vernon we had coaches who had not worked with the team before. It is clear too, that it was the National Coach Derek Brown who saw himself in charge and 'pulled rank' on team coach Rhona Martin.

I can understand Derek's dilemma. He holds three different positions. He is Head Curling Coach at the Scottish Institute of Sport where he is in charge of the programmes for Scotland’s elite curlers, a group of which Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson have not been part. He is the Royal Club’s National Coach, in charge of the teams representing Scotland at World Championships, and he is British Curling’s Performance Director, with responsibility for Olympic aspirations. He obviously was looking at Olympic representation all the time. If the Scotland team did not gain enough points at Vernon, then there might not be a GB team at the Vancouver Olympics, and part of his reason for existence would disappear. I asked in the magazine if this 'clouded his judgements in the need for care and consideration of a team unused to the pressures of competing at World level'. Did it? I leave it to others to decide.

There is a clue though in the Board's announcement today, which says, "The Board believes that events in Vernon provide further evidence that the National Coach should be an employee of the RCCC. Other sports have already made this change. We have advised sportscotland of this unanimous view and will be pursuing it as part of the post Olympic review in 2010." I read this to indicate that after this year's world championships, Derek Brown is not likely to be accompanying Scottish teams to Swift Current or Cortina.

So, did Lyndsay actually refuse to play? She says not. She got the blame initially, and has never had the opportunity to state her own position in a public forum until now. You have to plough through pages of unpleasant reading and various versions of events. Michael Nicholson says this: "On balance, having regard to all of the information available to me regarding the meeting and having regard to the general sense of what was said, I consider that Derek Brown understood that he had asked Lyndsay Wilson to play and that she had refused to play unless Gail Munro played and that that understanding was reasonable. I do not consider that Derek Brown had decided to play with three players and do not consider that he said so. I consider that Lyndsay Wilson did not understand the importance and effect of what was discussed, so that I did not disbelieve her statement that she was not asked to play and did not say that she would not play."

There is always a danger of quoting even a paragraph in a report like this out of context. You really have to read the whole story yourself and make up your own minds. What is clear is that no point did Derek Brown sit down with Gail, Lyndsay and Rhona to discuss the options for Scotland fielding a full team in the two games that lay ahead. Communication among the players and coaches had broken down completely by that point. And who should take the responsibility for that having happened? It's a sad, sad read.

So, what happens now? It will all go back to the Conduct Panel to decide. This story's final chapter has yet to be written.

I had hoped that the report would show what lessons can be learned from Vernon, so that such embarrassment does not happen again. But defining these lessons is not for this evening!

And why has it all taken so long even to get to this stage? An apology was forthcoming today. Bob Tait's statement says, "First, the RCCC was not prepared as fully as it should have been to handle and respond to this unforeseeable set of circumstances. For this, as well as any consequent stress and strain caused to all parties, the Board apologise. The Board also apologise for the length of time it has taken to finalise this."

The establishment of two groups to review Discipline and Performance is a positive step forward.

If you have a view, then the Scottish Curling Forum is where to air it.

The Vernon Report

2009-03-06T14:05:00.002Z

Michael Nicholson's report, all one hundred and some pages, is now available. The pdf file of the report and a separate one with appendices can be downloaded from here. It is not a comfortable read!

Having speculated in this month's Scottish Curler on what it might contain I am now sitting down to read it in its entirety to see if any of my speculation was correct! Discussion is best directed to the Scottish Curling Forum.

The Royal Club Chairman Bob Tait has issued a statement on behalf of the Board (it follows below), as have Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson (also printed below). Derek Brown has apparently made a statement too, but for some reason this cannot be printed (see Tait below)!

Statement from Bob Tait:

"As advised on 6 February the Report by the Independent Investigator has been received and, as provided for in the remit for the investigation agreed by all of the parties, is available in full here. The report is long but to get a balanced view it needs to be read in its entirety. The Board apologise if some of the colourful language offends.

The Board is grateful to all 13 witnesses for their co-operation with the Investigation. The Report has been considered by the Board, which accepts it has responsibility to members to address any shortcomings.

First, the RCCC was not prepared as fully as it should have been to handle and respond to this unforeseeable set of circumstances. For this, as well as any consequent stress and strain caused to all parties, the Board apologise. The Board also apologise for the length of time it has taken to finalise this. The actions outlined below are intended to guard against any similar future incident although ultimately this depends on the conduct of players, coaches and support staff selected to represent our country.

The Board believes that events in Vernon provide further evidence that the National Coach should be an employee of the RCCC. Other sports have already made this change. We have advised sportscotland of this unanimous view and will be pursuing it as part of the post Olympic review in 2010. When the change is made, responsibilities, training and development and all conditions of service would be determined by the RCCC (in consultation with its partners) and the National Coach post-holder would be accountable to the CEO and through that post-holder to the Board.

Secondly the President now writes to every player and coach representing Scotland abroad wishing them well in the competition and reminding them about the standards expected of those who have the honour to represent our country. This will continue.

Thirdly the Board is also establishing groups to review Discipline and Performance.

The remit of the Discipline Group is to review the Ethics Manual and in particular the Disciplinary and Appeals Codes benchmarking against other sports. Clear short timescales for making and dealing with complaints must be set out; assess the desirability of involving outside professionals eg Sports Disputes in the processes; review the legal content of the players contract; and conduct some scenario testing to ensure the robustness of new procedures.

The membership of the group is Michael Wood (Independent Lawyer - Chairman), Russell Keillor, Edith Loudon, Lockhart Steele and Colin Grahamslaw (Secretary).

The remit of the Performance Group is:
review the process for deciding how the teams to represent Scotland are selected. (and any potential impact on the Scottish Championships a change could have); clarify the role and responsibility of the team coach / national coach and the interaction between the two, including responsibility for decision making and recording; consider the relationship between the national coach and the RCCC and the future performance structure; consider the principles to be included in the player’s contract; and define the role of the RCCC representative at Championships.

The membership of the group is Bob Tait (Chair), Robin Copland, Margaret Richardson, Irene Hird, Chris Robison (Policy Director of the SSA) and Colin Grahamslaw (Secretary).

The Board will prepare a Code of Conduct taking account of both Groups’ recommendations and this will be provided to each player, coach and support staff representing our country and will be available to members.

Finally since the report was received there have been exchanges and meetings with the parties and their representatives to seek a conclusion with minimal further delay, stress and cost and in the best interests of curling. Derek Brown, the National Coach, provided a written statement intended for use here unfortunately it cannot be made available here as the conditions attached to it cannot at present be met.

Consideration of complaints by Mr Brown against Mrs Munro and Mrs Wilson and by Mrs Munro against Mr Brown, and by a Royal Club member against Mrs Wilson were all suspended to await the report of the Independent Investigator. As provided in the agreed remit which set up the investigation the Board is now providing the Conduct Panel (Sheriff Richard Scott, Chair, Mrs Pam Mackay and Mr Ewan Malcolm) and the Responsible Officer (the Vice President of the Royal Club, Bill Marshall) with copies of the Report, appendices and witness statements, and have asked them to resume consideration of these complaints. The Board will review the position once these complaints have been determined. The Board remains willing to discuss how matters can be settled without recourse to further hearings, costs, stress and delay.

The Board is conscious that members share their concerns about costs and advise that the present estimated costs of £15,000 to the RCCC should be contained within this year without recourse to any subscriptions increases. As intimated elsewhere the Board has set unchanged subscriptions for 2009-10.

I will advise members of progress. Any comments or questions should be addressed to me via Cairnie House or at chairman@royalcaledoniancurlingclub.org

Statement from Gail and Lyndsay:

"Gail Munro and Lyndsay Wilson welcome the long awaited publication of the Independent Investigator's report and although they feel disappointed that Michael Nicholson does not reach more definite conclusions, they feel that the report is sufficient to vindicate them both of the complaints made against them, namely that they refused to play. Whilst they are disappointed that the publication of the report has not led to a resolution of matters, they welcome the opportunity to resume the complaints with the Conduct Panel which supported their request to have the matter investigated, a promise by the RCCC to its members prior to the team's return from Vernon."

More from me later.

Bits and pieces

2009-03-05T00:05:00.003Z

Infront Sports and Media, the Official Media and Marketing Partner of the World Curling Federation, has secured a joint title sponsorship agreement for the 2009 World Women's Curling Championship in Korea, with Titlis Rotair Cableways and Lucerne Tourism sharing the title package. Read why the World Women's event is to be called The Mount Titlis World Women’s Curling Championship here.

The curling season shows no sign of slowing down, as my diary reminds me. So here are some serious bits and pieces to be thinking of over the next few days.

Firstly, don't forget that the World Juniors begin today (Thursday) in Vancouver. Tuesday's preview is here. Follow the links in that post to find out what is happening in Vancouver.

Later today the Scottish Masters, the over-60s, gets underway at the Greenacres Rink. Both men's and women's events will be played. Twelve teams, two sections in each competition. First stones get thrown at 1.30 pm. I will have some photos from the event at some point. Find the results here.

On Saturday and Sunday the Overs and Unders (or is it the Unders and Overs) is at Braehead. This is a Ladies' Branch initiative to encourage some of our girls to play with their peers. Ten teams are signed up, in two sections. The results will be here.

On Friday, the Allister Boyd Charity Curling Bonspiel is at Ayr Ice Rink in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust and CLIC Sargent. Lots of items for auction, and to win in the raffle. See here.

Also on Friday, female wheelies get together with the ABs at Hamilton to celebrate International Women's day. This has been a great success for the past two years and I hope it will be as much fun again this time. It is hosted by the South Lanarkshire Wheelchair Curling Club in association with the SWCA and the RCCC. The event has again received funding from the Scottish Community Foundation Women's Fund for Scotland.

Moving on, did you see that the draw for a next season event is available here? Actually, it is the first of the U-17 Slam events, at Perth, April 8-9. Sixteen teams have signed up for the first of the group of U-17 competitions at Perth, Greenacres, Lockerbie and Hamilton. There has been talk of a further event next season - Forfar and Braehead have both been mentioned, but the RCCC Competitions Manager Colin Hamilton could not confirm either of these when I asked him earlier this week.

The Slam winners usually go off to the WCF Junior Camp in Fussen as their prize. Such is the popularity of the WCF camp that the Royal Club is organising its own Homecoming Scotland International Junior Camp, July 19-25, in Dumfries. I've enthused about this before on the blog, see here, and entry is now open. Follow this link to contact Judith McFarlane, the Royal Club's Development Officer, for details. This new international camp will cater for a slightly older group (16-21) than the successful summer camps at Dolphin House. I know this blog is read in many European countries - hopefully curlers there will see the ad and come to this part of Scotland in July! April 3 is the deadline being shown for applications. The cost is £400 per curler - this includes accommodation, meals, tee-shirt, activities and course instruction. A minimum of thirty-two junior curlers is needed, and maximum is sixty-four. First come, first served.

Lastly, can I draw your attention to the grand plans that a group of enthusiasts have for a sports centre in Aviemore. This would include a separate curling facility, perhaps just three sheets. Only ideas yet, but some optimism is needed these days, and let's hope that it will all happen some time in the future! I have happy memories of curling at the old Aviemore rink many years ago. The website for the venture is here. And no, I've not even going to complain that the only photo of a curler that could be found for the website header is that of Germany's Andrea Schopp! Curling Today would happily supply a Scottish pic.

And a final treat for those oldies out there who remember the Chalet Motel trophy at Aviemore, here are some more bits and pieces! Enjoy.

This promotional postcard was being distributed recently.

March 2009 Scottish Curler

2009-03-04T13:07:00.004Z

The March Scottish Curler magazine has been published and is on its way to subscribers today. The cover photo, by Richard Gray, is of Eve Muirhead whose teams won the Scottish Junior Championship and the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Campionship last month. A most deserving cover girl indeed!

Curling Today, Sweepings, Curling World, the Maryel Interview, Looking Back, the Historical Bit, the Extra End, the Caption Competition, and the Club News pages are all there, together with reports of all that happened on the ice last month!

The Editor had a problem! I had been expecting publication of the Vernon Report, and had held back a page to summarise the findings. When it didn't appear, I did something I don't usually do - I speculated what the report will contain. You will no doubt be interested, as indeed I will be, to see if any of my speculation translates into fact, when (if) the report is published!

Of course, as I have already indicated (see here), the Scottish Curler magazine is heading into a future that I am not part of. I will be Editor for just two more issues, the first of these already in preparation. Can I make a plea? Send me some letters to publish - on any subject, but perhaps especially your memories of the magazine over the last 55 years, and if it has made a difference to you, or to the curling world! It has always disappointed me that so few readers put pen to paper, and of course in the days of the Web there are more immediate ways to make one's opinions known, such as the Scottish Curling Forum. But, as we know, our sport's governing body is not a big fan of forums with anonymous posts and the use of avatars, so if you have something to say in print, in an independent Scottish Curler which is still widely read, you have only a little more time to do so.

Editor /at/ scottishcurler.demon.co.uk

Thanks, Bob

World Junior Championships

2009-03-03T00:42:00.001Z

The World Junior Championships get underway in Vancouver's Olympic Centre on Thursday. The event website is here. Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre, with Kay Adams as alternate, play France in their first game.

So, what can I say about this team? Eve, Vicki, Sarah and Kay were in the winning squad last year in Ostersund, and Eve of course has just won the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Championship, with her senior team. Vicki, Sarah and Kay were competing last week at the World University Games in Harbin, China, and indeed flew straight to Vancouver from there to meet up with the other team members and coach Isobel Hannen. Anna Sloan skipped her GB team to gold medals at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Poland recently. There was a feature about Anna and her curling connections in Scotland on Sunday here. 'Teenager with an icy determination' was how the article was titled. A good description, as all who know her will testify!

If there is one negative thing to say, it is only that the team has not played that much together this season, given Eve's other commitments to her senior team and with the GB Squad of which she is a member. But I expect that the Muirhead team will be the one that the others will be looking to beat in Vancouver. Who to look out for there? There's no easy games at the Worlds at any level. Canada is represented again by Kaitlin Lawes, who finished with bronze medals last year. Lawes' team will be more comfortable too in her home country. Sweden is strong this year too, with Anna Hasselborg's team. The other teams are listed here.

Graeme Black, Ally Fraser, Steven Mitchell and Thomas Sloan have impressed on the ice all season. Graeme and his cousin Thomas have played together for a number of years. Steven was with them last year when they reached the Scottish semifinal, losing then to the eventual winner Glen Muirhead. Ally Fraser has joined the team this year and the rapport between skip and third can be seen to work well. The four competed in the WCT-e Junior Tour and finished second in the rankings (see here).

This is the first time for the team on the biggest of stages, and Graeme's delight and excitement of having the opportunity to don the Scottish jersey came out in an interview on John Beattie's Radio Scotland programme on Saturday. Graeme identifed the strength of his side as their ability to work as a team. "When we get into sticky situations we fight," he said. And those who saw the team come back in their semifinal game against Blair Fraser at Perth last month witnessed that. His first stated goal is to ensure Scotland's participation in next year's World Championship. Things can go wrong so easily, as we saw in Ostersund last year, but Black's team certainly have the potential to be challenging for the playoffs.

Glen Muirhead is the team's alternate and Alan Hannah is the coach.

The team which finished ahead of Black in the Junior Tour standings will be one of the favourites in Vancouver. The Swedish team is skipped by Oskar Eriksson, who won the ROK Highland Inverness Junior event earlier this season (see here). The current World Junior Champs are skipped by Chris Plys, who is back in the draw this year, his team having won the recent US Junior Championships. Scotland plays the US in the first round. The full draw is here.

Last season at this time I was getting all set to go off moose hunting in Sweden! But with the recent news (here) you will understand I'm not going anywhere far this season. So, I'll be following Mike Haggerty's reports on the Royal Club's website here, and the results, stats and photos being provided by Curlit, see here.

Good luck to both our teams!

Top: Eve Muirhead. Above: Graeme Black. Pics by Bob.

Wheelchair curling Paralympics lineup

2009-03-01T09:13:00.004Z

Following the World Wheelchair Curling Championship, which was won by Canada (see linescores and stats here, and reports here and here) the World Curling Federation has confirmed the Olympic points table to show which ten countries will compete in the wheelchair curling event at the Paralympics in Vancouver next year. Points are allocated according to performances in the past three World Wheelchair Curling Championships, as explained here.

WCF 2010 PARALYMPIC QUALIFICATION

1. Norway - 28 points
2. Canada - 26*
3. United States - 20.5
4. Korea - 19
5. Scotland / Great Britain - 18**
6. Sweden - 16
7. Switzerland - 14
8. Germany - 8
9. Italy - 8
10. Japan - 7.5

* Canada as host country has guaranteed qualification
** Points for Great Britain are gained by Scotland at the WWhCC

The Paralympic Games are March 12-21, 2010. The official website is here, is full of content already and well worth a browse. I was particularly taken with the original graphics, such as that at the top of this page.

European Championships in Aberdeen

2009-02-28T10:59:00.006Z

There's not been a lot of publicity yet for the next European Curling Championships which will be held in Aberdeen, December 4-12. There is a link now from the European Curling Federation's website to the Aberdeen event's site here, where you can download a season ticket application form, and details of how to be a volunteer.

I had the opportunity to talk briefly to George Esson, the chaiman of the local organising committee, last week. He confirms that arrangements are forging ahead on all fronts, and that Aberdeen will host a successful Championships.

Curling Today can reveal that the Linx Arena, on the beach front, is now being considered as the venue for the A Division games. Originally, these were going to be in the new Curl Aberdeen facility in Eday Walk, off the Lang Stracht, with the B Division in the Linx. However, in the current economic situation, the costs of putting in temporary seating, with provision of a marquee to provide additional space for spectators to meet and mingle, have increased. The Linx Arena, on the beach front, already has seating. This arena is currently closed for refurbishment (see the story here), but Esson has no doubt that it will be ready in time for the Championships.

ECF President Andrew Ferguson-Smith and representatives from WCTV, who will provide the television feed from the event, visited Aberdeen last week and have concluded that both venues could be successfully covered from a TV point of view. Esson's team are now looking at the cost implications and a decision on what will be held where is expected soon. Watch this space!

Pics by Bob

Scotland's wheels avoid relegation

2009-02-27T10:53:00.002Z

Scotland has finished in fifth place at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Vancouver. Aileen Neilson, Michael McCreadie, Tom Killin and Jim Sellar beat Norway in a tiebreaker. Mike Haggerty's game report is here. All the results and stats are here, by Curlit. For more insight from someone who knows the game backwards, check out Eric Eales' wheelchair curling blog.

Last year, the rules in place were that ties in ranking for relegation would be determined by the pre-event draw shot challenge. Japan were relegated by the smallest of margins, blatantly unfair. The WCF rules were changed, a result I reported in a blog post in which I was able to use the famous Vulcan quotation by T'Plana-Hath, see here! (A blog highlight of 2008 to enjoy and treasure)

Now, no team can be relegated except by losing a match. As it should be. And of course in Vancouver this year no fewer than five teams ended with 5-4 records! Just the situation that the use of DSC ranking was trying to avoid. China, Italy, Korea, Norway and Scotland were involved in a three-level series of tiebreak games to determine who would be in ninth place and join Switzerland, who finished bottom of the table, in the qualifying tournament for the World Championship in 2011. There is no World Championship in 2010 as this is a Paralympics year.

Scotland's win over Norway has secured our place at the Wheelchair Worlds in 2011. Tiebreaks continue today, Korea v China and Italy v Norway, and the losers then play to avoid ninth place. Scotland's Ian Addison is chief umpire - he will have had the job of sorting this all out!

Aileen Neilson, seen here in Yadranka McAulay's photo, has assumed the role of Scotland's skip.

Harbin update, updated, update

2009-02-27T09:15:00.000Z

Sarah Reid's team missed out on the medals at the World University Games. The GB curlers lost to Canada in the semis, and to Russia in the bronze medal playoffs. Bingyu Wang's Chinese side beat the Canadians to take the gold.

The GB team was 5-1 up against the Canadians after five only to lose 7-5 to Nicole Hollie's side. Liudmila Privivkova's Russian team were 8-4 winners over GB.

In the men's event, Niklas Edin's Sweden beat Thomas Lovold's Norway in an extra end in the final. China won bronze over Korea.

There's a Canadian take on the women's semifinal and other aspects of the Harbin event here. I note that this blogger ventures to suggest that Liudmila Privivkova looks 'extremely burnt out'! Now, apart from the anguish that such a comment gives to all the members of Lucy's fan club, she obviously still had enough of a spark to beat the GB team.

And who is this blogger that is giving his opinions? None other than the Canadian Curling Association National Development Coach, Paul Webster! Now, is it just me, or is this not a brilliant innovation? National coaches having time/being encouraged to blog. I'm globsmacked. Would it not be great if Scotland's National Coach could put up a blog post every day from the World events? Or the GB team coaches could do it all next year. Perhaps twitter accounts would be better? No, more depth on a blog. Let's have womenscurlingGBcoach.blogspot.com, or davehayscurlinginsights.blogspot.com, or Rhonasrocks.blogspot.com, or delboyatGangneung.blogspot.com. Then we could get an insight into what they are thinking.

Sorry, forgot to take my medication.

Team Munro retains Henderson Bishop trophy

2009-02-26T21:11:00.005Z

Some days things go better than expected - not too often in the life of the Editor, it has to be said - but today worked out well. I signed off on the final proofs of the March Scottish Curler by lunchtime in Dunfermline and realised that, given an open road and a following wind, my wee Almera could probably get me to Kelso in time to see most of the Henderson Bishop final. And it did.

Border Ice Rink hospitality was at its best, it had obviously been a great week for the women's premier competition, and there was a big crowd of fans in the Kelso four-sheeter for the High and Low Road finals. Both were great games to watch, and well worth the effort in getting there.

Gail Munro's team, the defending champions, were in the final again. Unfortunately, Lorna McMillan had had to return home due to a family illness, and Gail, Lyndsay Wilson and Fiona Hardie had recruited a local lass, Lorna Shaw, to play with them for their last three games in the event. Fourteen-year old Lorna played her heart out... and became the youngest competitor ever to get her name on the Henderson Bishop trophy!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Stranraer team was against the local foursome of June Swan, Glynnice Lauder, Gillian Smith and Myra Thomson. They were 2-2 after four, 3-3 after six, and still tied at 5-5 after eight, as you can see on the linescore here (with all the other results too). The ninth end proved to be the decisive one, the Stranraer team exerted the pressure, the Kelso side could not respond and Gail was sitting with three shots in the house when she went to play her last. She wiggled in another and four went up on the board. They kept the last end clean to run their opposition out of stones.

Above: Sheila Miller, President of the RCCC Ladies Branch, presents the Henderson Bishop trophy to Gail Munro, Lyndsay Wilson, Fiona Hardie and Lorna Shaw. The photo is a joint effort between Jim Buchanan and Bob (Jim's camera, Bob pressed the button, Jim forwarded the end result. Thanks Jim).

We don't usually say too much about event Low Roads, but today's Cherrystone final between Lisa Mackellaich, Morven Bridges, Abie Brodie and Wee Barras (above, Inverness), and Jean Robertson, Pat Keith, Susan Scougal and Angela Wilcox (Kirkcaldy) was a great game too. (I only saw two games from the whole week, so I really have to mention it!) The Inverness girls stole a three at the fifth to gain the advantage, but there was only a shot in it playing the tenth. Lisa chipped away a Kirkcaldy counter for the win with her last stone. As a fan of wee curling stones, I have to say how much I admired the individual prizes, handcrafted locally. The pic above is again a Bob-Jim co-production!

Scottish Curler Future

2009-02-25T17:05:00.007Z

The March 2009 Scottish Curler is now being printed. It contains the following statement:

"The publishers of the Scottish Curler, Clyde and Forth Press, are looking at the options for the future of the magazine and they are discussing these with the Royal Caledonian Curling Club.

After seven years as Editor, Bob Cowan will retire at the end of this season.

There will be further news for readers in the April Scottish Curler with information regarding current and future subscriptions."

The final print issue will be the May edition. Hopefully the title will continue in a different form. The first Scottish Curler was published in January 1954.

There will be a thread on the Scottish Curling Forum for comment and questions. This blog, which exists to support and promote the printed magazine, will be run down over the next few weeks.

GB in semis in Harbin

2009-02-25T07:40:00.003Z

I don't have more than the bare result, but I was pleased to note this morning that Sarah Reid, Kay Adams, Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre, representing GB, have made it through to the semifinals of the World University Games in Harbin, China. They came back from a 5-1 deficit against Sarka Doudova's Czech Republic team to win 8-5. They will meet the undefeated Canadians in the semifinal tomorrow.

Fifth players for the World Championships

2009-02-24T13:26:00.002Z

Jackie Lockhart will be the fifth player for Eve Muirhead's team at the World Women's Curling Championship in Gangneung, Korea, March 21-29. The event website is here.

Graeme Connal will again be the fifth player for the Murdoch team at the Ford World Men's Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick, April 4-12. The event website is here.

Furth of Skip Cottage

2009-02-24T12:00:00.001Z

Having enjoyed a great week's curl watching, taking pics and blogging from Perth, being shackled to the computer this week is hard! But the March 'Championships Issue' of the Scottish Curler is just about ready to go to print.

But curling is continuing out there. Our teams at the Winter Universiade in Harbin have had a difficult time, looking at the results. But Sarah Reid's team are still fighting. They finished the round robin on five wins and four losses, jointly fourth in the ranking. They now have a tiebreaker against the Czech Republic to get into the playoffs. That will be tomorrow. Canada, China and Russia are the top three.

John Hamilton's team have three wins, having played eight of their nine round robin games, and cannot make the playoffs.

I've been following the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Vancouver, online here. The playing stats are interesting. I note that Aileen Neilson is throwing last stones now. Mike Haggerty will now be in Vancouver, and his reports will be on the Royal Club website here.

I'm sorry not to be able to get over to the Border ice Rink, Kelso, this week where the Henderson Bishop trophy is being contested, the premier event in the Ladies' Branch calendar. The results are here.

Top: The GB girls who are at the WUG in China. L-R: Sarah Macintyre, Vicki Adams, Sarah Reid, Kay Adams, Laura Kirkpatrick. Photo by Hugh Stewart.

Scotland's wheels in Vancouver

2009-02-23T09:11:00.002Z

Michael McCreadie's team have won one and lost two at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Vancouver. You can find all the results here, and the WCF reports here.

Michael McCreadie's pic is by Dallas Bittle, courtesy the WCF

Salute the champions

2009-02-22T18:55:00.002Z

Back L-R: David Hay (coach), Euan Byers, Pete Smith, Ewan MacDonald, David Murdoch
Front: Anne Laird, Rachael Simms, Karen Addison, Eve Muirhead, Isobel Hannen (coach)

The winners of the Bruadar Scottish Men's and the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies' Championships.

Pic by Bob.

The Men's Final

2009-02-22T17:59:00.002Z

Tom Brewster, David Murdoch

Tom Brewster and Duncan Fernie

As in the women's event, the Bruadar Championship game was a rematch of the yesterday's Page 1-2 encounter. David Murdoch, Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith, Euan Byers were the holders. Tom Brewster, Duncan Fernie, Ron Brewster, Colin Campbell is a new lineup this season, although Tom has the reputation of always being there or thereabouts, but never winning the big one.

There was little to separate the teams. Murdoch engineered a two at the fourth and Brewster responded with a pair of his own in the fifth. After six ends, the score was 3-2 to Brewster. End seven was an aggressive end by both teams - two timeouts, lots of discussions. Murdoch played a key last stone, a brave one which could have been disastrous had it gone wrong, to get a two and take the initiative. Real class! David and his team then stole in the eighth after a measure - this game comes down to millimetres so often. That put them two up. Brewster blanked the ninth.

There was not a lot for Brewster to hide behind as the tenth end progressed. Coach Gordon Muirhead was called in on a timeout and Duncan Fernie had two attempts to hide behind a Murdoch stone at the top of the four foot. One was wide (and was quickly removed by Ewan MacDonald), the other just ticked it and lay open. It was removed too.

Two stones to go, and Brewster put the first of these half behind the Murdoch stone right at the back of the house. Murdoch's removal team then did the job expected and David Murdoch, Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith, Euan Byers, the European Champions, were the Bruadar Scottish Champions, and will be our representatives in Moncton at the Worlds. Great game, well done to both teams!

More pics later.

Find all the linescores and stats here.
Ewan MacDonald

Euan Byers and Pete Smith

Duncan Fernie and Colin Campbell

The contestants: L-R David Murdoch, Ewan MacDonald, Peter Smith, Euan Byers, Tom Brewster, Duncan Fernie, Ron Brewster, Colin Campbell.

Gillie McNab did the honours for the teams at Perth today.

The Women's Final

2009-02-22T13:50:00.002Z

The gladiators enter the arena.

The Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Curling Championship title was on the line as Kelly Wood, Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Lindsay Wood matched up against Eve Muirhead, Karen Addison, Rachael Simms and Anne Laird, in a repeat of the Page 1-2 game.

Wood elected to choose the stones rather than to go with last stone advantage in the first end, but got the first shot on the board anyway as Muirhead missed with her last stone in trying to blank the end.

Not a lot went right for the Muirhead team in the fifth and Eve was facing six Wood stones when she went to throw her first. She removed three, but was looking at four opposion counters when she went to play her last of the end. She drew perfectly to the four foot for shot. The score 3-3 at the break.

Wood faced the pressure too in the eighth, drawing to the tee with her last stone with a bundle of Muirhead counters facing her.

The break for Muirhead came in the ninth, a count of two giving her team a 7-5 lead coming home. A double takeout by the Junior Champion skip on her first, saw off much of the danger. Then when Wood failed to freeze perfectly, Muirhead had a straightforward clearance for the game. Eve Muirhead, Karen Addison, Rachael Simms and Anne Laird are the champs, and bound now for Korea!

Linescores and playing stats are here.

Top: Kelly Wood and Eve Muirhead

Rachael Simms, Karen Addison, Anne Laird

Jackie Lockhart in the head for skip Kelly Wood's stone.

Rachael and Anne sweep their skip's draw for two in the eighth.

Eve Muirhead

Team Wood timeout in the last end.

This was the photo we were going to use if Eve had lost! She's pondering how her team got in to such difficulties in the fifth!

L-R: Annie Laird, Rachael Simms, Karen Addison, Eve Muirhead, Lindsay Wood, Lorna Vevers, Jackie Lockhart and Kelly Wood.

Pics by Bob.

Perth update

2009-02-21T23:27:00.012Z

Right, where are we? We missed the Page 1-2, which was won by Kelly Wood's team after Eve Muirhead was a couple of inches heavy with her last stone for the game. That put Eve, Karen Addison, Rachael Simms and Anne Laird in the semi with Claire Hamilton, Claire MacDonald, Rhiann Macleod and Caitlin Barr, the survivors of last night's playoffs.

It came down to the last end. Hamilton was one up without the hammer, got into trouble, and jammed her clearance with her last, leaving Eve a draw for two, which she made. Whew! Team Muirhead now meet Kelly Wood for the Columba Cream Championship title tomorrow morning. Find all the results here.

Eve Muirhead

Tom Brewster lost to David Murdoch in the Page 1-2 of the Bruadar Scottish Men's Championship, and faced Glen Muirhead's junior team, who got past Peter Loudon's side earlier in the page 3-4.

Here is Glen and third Greg Drummond with lots of stones!

Glen Muirhead

And the rest of the team - Scott Andrews on the left, Scott Macleod on the right.

Tom Brewster was fired up for this one - here he is getting excited!

Oops, you want to know who won. In a good game, Brewster, Duncan Fernie, Ron Brewster and Colin Campbell always held a slight advantage, and came down the tenth one up with the hammer. Tom drew the four foot for the game. All the results and stats are here.

Pics by Bob who promises to be more coherent tomorrow!

Medals now... and then

2009-02-21T20:30:00.008Z

Family and friends await the arrival of Team GB from the European Youth Olympic Festival.

Here are the curling GOLD MEDALLISTS. L-R Becca Kesley, Hannah Fleming, Anna Sloan, Lauren Gray, Alice Spence with coach Debbie Knox.

Here are the curling SILVER MEDALLISTS. L-R: Blair Fraser, JayMcWilliam, Colin Dick, Kerr Drummond, Struan Wood with their coach Hazel Wood.

Here is Rhona Martin, who was responsible for the GB curling squads at the EYOF, with Debbie Knox, the coach of the girls' team. They were teammates in the GB Olympic team in Ogden, and seven years ago to the day (with Janice Rankin, Fiona MacDonald and Margaret Morton) they won the gold medals! February 21, 2002, it was. It just added an extra poignancy to the welcome home today at Glasgow Airport.

Curling Today says a big 'Well done' to both teams... and to the coaches, parents and supporters.

Winter Universiade

2009-02-21T10:11:00.005Z

What's happening in China at the 24th Winter Universiade. Remember I gave instructions on how to find the results - see here. Anyway, John Hamilton's GB team lost in an extra end to Canada earlier today and currently sit on a 1-3 win-loss record. Sarah Reid's side beat the Russians and are on 2-2.

There's some more about the Universiade in the Curling News blog here (I like the photo, I believe kit like this is being considered for next season's RCCC Regional Academy athletes!) where you can read the following words: "Hats off to FISU for organizing a great competition. Scotland’s Jeannette Johnson (sic) and her Chinese organizing committee have done an outstanding job covering all the bases. The best decision they have made was bringing in icemakers Scott Henderson and Doug Wright... conditions have been amazing and continue to impress all of the teams."

BLOG INFO: Don't be looking here for anything from Perth until later tonight. I'm off to greet our two young GB teams back from the EYOF with their medals! The results from the Bruadar and Columba Cream Championships can be followed on the RCCC website.

Scots at World Wheelchair Championship

2009-02-21T07:35:00.000Z

Rosemary Lenton, Jim Sellar, Tom Killin, Aileen Neilson, and Michael McCreadie (above) get down to business today when the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship begins in Vancouver's new Olympic/Paralympic Centre which was only officially opened on Thursday.

The Scots play Canada in their first game later today (Saturday).

Real-time results will be available at wwhcc.curlit.com. Daily match reports and photos will be available at the main WCF website, and there will be reports on the RCCC website from Mike Haggerty from early next week. The event website, with the draw, is here.

I liked the wording on the official press release from VANOC about the new arena, and I share this with you:

"Six thousand spectators can watch the rocks curl and twist at the venue, the largest seating capacity for wheelchair curling in Paralympic Winter Games history. The Government of Canada and province of British Columbia contributed $40.25 million to the centre via VANOC. The curling venue is perched on one of the highest point of land in the city, with views of downtown’s glass towers and the snow-capped peaks of the North Shore mountains. Construction started in February 2007 – the last competition venue for the Games to break ground. The Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre is targeted for the gold standard in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. This eco-friendly venue captures rainwater and siphons it into the building to flush toilets and urinals. The toilets, showers and sinks also use low-flow water systems, reducing water usage by up to 30 per cent. The building is wrapped in a high-performance envelope that helps keep temperatures just right inside for the perfect ice sheet. Heat is reused during the ice-making process and the building is powered by a mixture of electricity, natural gas and solar energy."

So, there you are, watching the rocks curl and twist! Let's Twist Again. The new venue will also host the World Juniors, March 5-15. There's a pic of the arena ready for play here.

Photo courtesy of Tom Pendreigh

Second tiebreaker

2009-02-20T23:22:00.002Z

What a great game of curling! Claire Hamilton, Claire MacDonald, Rhiann Macleod and Caitlin Barr took a pair at the first and always had their noses in front for seven more ends. One down in the ninth without the hammer, Gail went for it... and was looking at three when she went to play her last. Her attempted freeze was heavy and slipped through and she conceded. Gail, Lyndsay Wilson, Sharon Stewart and Kerry Adams will not be on the ice tomorrow.

The linescore is here. The shooting percentages are here, and these show that, on the night, the Hamilton team were the stronger.

Claire's side will meet the losers of the Eve Muirhead v Kelly Wood Page 1-2 game which is at 2.30 Saturday. The 'semi' is at 8pm.

But listen, we need to say more about these girls who were battling it out as the clock ticked towards midnight. So here is the Ed's salute to all tonight's gladiators!

Gail Munro

Lyndsay Wilson (and umpire Pat Edington)

Sharon Stewart

Kerry Adams

Claire Hamilton

Claire MacDonald

Rhiann Macleod

Caitlin Barr

"Psst. What time is it Claire?" "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Pics by Bob

Last round robin at Perth

2009-02-20T20:04:00.005Z

David Murdoch eight wins, Tom Brewster seven wins, Peter Loudon six wins and Glen Muirhead also with six wins are the four teams in the playoffs at the Bruadar Scottish Curling Championship. That's what the standings on the RCCC website say here, with the linescores and playing percentages for all the games.

But there was quite some drama at the Dewar's Centre on Friday evening. Glen Muirhead (above) had to play Warwick Smith. Perhaps not many would have favoured the Juniors against last season's Scottish runners-up, but Glen's team demolished the veterans with ease.

Pete Loudon had not only his own future in his hands, but if he lost his game to Lee McCleary that would bring Smith, and Hammy McMillan, back into a tiebreaker. Loudon controlled the game. Drawing to win in the tenth his stone picked up! In the extra though, he was able to push out a near perfect McCleary freeze for the win.

Page playoffs 1 v 2, and 3 v 4 are tomorrow (Saturday) at 2.30 pm. Murdoch v Brewster; Muirhead v Loudon.

Top: Glen Muirhead

Pete Loudon

Pics by Bob

First women's tiebreaker at Perth

2009-02-20T16:19:00.007Z

Gail Munro got past the first hurdle in getting to this year's Columba Cream Ladies Curling Championship playoffs when she and her team of Lyndsay Wilson, Sharon Stewart and Kerry Adams beat Mairi Milne, Claire Milne, Lynn Cameron and Katie Loudon in the first tiebreaker at Perth this afternoon. The Munro side now meet Claire Hamilton's team later this evening.

It was a tight game, with Munro going into the last end one behind with last stone advantage. Mairi played her last and corner froze it to a Munro counter at the back of the tee. Gail was on target with her last to push the Milne shot away and count four, more than she needed for the win.

Find all the results, linescores and links to the stats, here.

Top: Kerry Adams and Sharon Stewart bring Lyndsay Wilson's stone into the house as Gail checks if it's level with the other Munro stone in the house.

Mairi Milne and Gail Munro

Defending champion Gail Munro

Gold for GB girls at EYOF

2009-02-20T15:20:00.002Z

Anna Sloan, Hannah Fleming, Lauren Gray, Alice Spence and Becca Kesley (alternate) beat Kershin Iten's Switzerland in the final of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Poland this afternoon. The GB team were four up playing the tenth.

Colin Dick, Blair Fraser, Jay McWilliam, Kerr Drummond and Struan Wood (alternate) won the silver medals, losing at the last end to Roger Gulka's Swiss side. Dick and his team went into the last end one up, without last stone, and saw the Swiss draw for a two.

Very well done to both GB sides!

Murdoch tops the standings

2009-02-20T13:37:00.006Z

Lee McCleary had the beating of the Murdoch team at the Bruadar Scottish Championship Finals today, but his attempted double with last stone was well off target. McCleary was one down without at the last, and could have elected to draw for a single for the extra. When the big shot to win the game did not come off, Murdoch was alone at the top of the standings.

Warwick Smith's side beat Hammy McMillan at the last stone of their game, to keep themselves in contention on five wins, the same count now as Glen Muirhead's team. Tom Brewster's team could have been sharing top spot with Murdoch, but his last draw in the extra end of his game against Pete Loudon was just long, and he stays on six wins. That victory brought the Loudon team to five wins too.

So, the ninth games in the round robin will see Loudon v McCleary, and Muirhead v Warwick Smith, the results decisive in determining who will be in the last four. McMillan (on four wins) plays Colin Hamilton.

See all the results, stats and linescores here.

Top: David Murdoch. Above: Team Murdoch work out what to do against McCleary.

Lee McCleary

Pics by Bob.

Newsflash from Poland

2009-02-20T11:26:00.002Z

Both GB teams have reached the finals of the EYOF curling, and will contest the gold against the Swiss this afternoon!

Follow the linescores here.

More men on Thursday

2009-02-19T22:56:00.004Z

Christine was on blog duty tonight for the seventh round of the Bruadar Scottish Men's Curling Championship. She writes, "David Murdoch met Warwick Smith in round seven, and this turned into quite a surprising game. Before it started the teams on paper were evenly matched. But ice is different, and so it proved in this one! With last stone Murdoch took two in the first and dominated the game from there, Smith was forced to take one in the second, Murdoch got another two in the third. And that set the pattern for the game, the Murdoch four were the strongest team making all the shots. It was over in just five ends, Murdoch lay three, Smith failed with his last stone, he conceded.

Peter Loudon against Alan Smith was over in eight ends. A steal of three in the fifth gave Loudon a lead of three shots, he held on to that, killing the game with three in the eighth for a final score of 7-2.

Hammy McMillan got another win on his card against Iain Watt, 6-4.

And Tom Brewster had a tight game all the way against Glen Muirhead. Neither team could get the advantage, and they went in to final end tied at four all. Muirhead didn't bury his last stone draw. Brewster had a hit, he didn't need to stick, he got one shot for the game 5-4.

Tom Brewster and David Murdoch are now both on 6 wins, Warwick Smith, Glen Muirhead, Peter Loudon and Hammy McMillan all on 4 wins. Two more rounds to play. Find all the linescores and stats here."

Then there were five

2009-02-19T18:31:00.011Z

Eight women's teams started out in the Columba Cream Scottish Curling Championship last year at Curl Aberdeen, and after the double round robin, five are still in contention for the 2009 title. The teams skipped by Kelly Wood and Eve Muirhead finished tied for top spot with 11 wins, and three teams, skipped by Gail Munro, Claire Hamilton and Mairi Milne were equal on seven wins. Wood and Muirhead will play the 1-2 Page game, the loser of that will play who ever comes forward from the tiebreakers tomorrow. These are set up as Munro v Milne at 2pm, the winner to play Claire Hamilton at 8.30pm. See the RCCC website here.

Here are all the surviving skips!

Eve Muirhead (above) and her team of Karen Addison, Rachael Simms and Anne Laird beat the Gail Munro side in the last round robin game.

Kelly Wood (above), Jackie Lockhart, Lorna Vevers and Lindsay Wood beat Claire Hamilton in their last game.

Gail Munro, Lyndsay Wilson, Sharon Stewart and Kerry Adams are still battling away.

Claire Hamilton (above) had to recruit Claire MacDonald as third for this week, as Lauren Gray is off winning medals in Poland with the GB girls' team. But with Rhiann Macleod and Caitlin Barr as the front end they have done really well to be in the mix for tomorrow's tiebreakers.
After a slow start, Mairi Milne and her team of Claire Milne, Lynn Cameron and Katie Loudon, recovered from being the Curling Today Team of the Day (here) and won their place in the playoffs by beating Gillian Howard today.

Elsewhere in the curling world

2009-02-19T16:02:00.009Z

The GB teams at the World University Games have had their first games in Harbin. Sarah Reid's team lost to the Chinese favourites in their first game but beat Korea in their second match.

John Hamilton's team beat the USA in an extra end in their first round match.

Finding results is just a little problematic. This link takes you to the English home page. From there, click schedules and results on the left, and on the next page scroll down until you find 'curling', at the bottom. Click on that - and you are presented with another page that has little on it, except one link 'curling'. If you haven't lost the will to live by this time, click on that link and you will be presented with a page where you can download, as pdf files, all the draws!

It's rather easier to find the results from the EYOF in Poland thanks to curlinglive.com. Norway beat the Czech Republic for third place in the men's event, and now play Colin Dick's team in the semifinal. The GB women, skipped by Anna Sloan, missed out on a place in the final (with the guarantee of at least a silver medal) by less than a cm as the Draw Shot Distance was used to decide the rankings after three teams finished tied for first place in the rankings on 4 wins. The Swiss are through to the final. The GB team has to play Denmark, who beat them when they met this morning, in the semifinal.

The semifinal games are tomorrow.

And last but not least, the World Curling Tour Europe has relaunched itself as the Curling Champions Tour, see here.

This is a fascinating development, and more about it here in due course.

Men on Thursday

2009-02-19T15:33:00.006Z

This was a big game today, in the sixth round of the Bruadar Scottish Men's Curling Championship. Both Tom Brewster and Warwick Smith were on 4-1 win-loss records and it was to be Team Brewster who would improve that this afternoon. You can find all the linescores, results and standings here.

In other games, Peter Loudon's side took David Murdoch's team to the last stone, the Lockerbie skip having a straightforward hit for the game. Murdoch and Brewster head the table with five wins. Three rounds remain. In the men's it will be the top four teams which will contest the playoffs (in contrast to the women where it is the top three).

Above: Tom Brewster and Warwick Smith

Tom Brewster

Warwick Smith and Craig Wilson

Pics by Bob.

More Perth Thursday

2009-02-19T11:55:00.002Z

It was the battle between the two GB Olympic Squad teammates this morning in the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Curling Championship at Perth. And it was Eve Muirhead and her team that came out on top against Kelly Woods' side. Two behind in the ninth, the Scottish Junior Champ made a raise takeout for a pair, and in the tenth, with the end set up well by her team, she placed her last two stones perfectly. Kelly was left with a delicate raise to the button. She was close, but not close enough, and the two teams share top spot in the rankings, which you can see here.

Jackie Lockhart and Kelly Wood discuss options.

Claire MacDonald (left) is substituting for Lauren Gray this week as third player in Claire Hamilton's side. They took a three from Gail Munro this morning in the seventh end and ran out 8-6 ahead. Hamilton and Munro are jointly third on the standings now, on seven wins apiece.

Sharon Stewart, Gail Munro and Kerry Adams.

Pics by Bob.

Thursday

2009-02-19T08:48:00.004Z

The skirmishings are almost over in the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Curling Championship. I'm writing this as the eight teams are practising before the start of their penultimate match of the double round robin. The top four teams in the rankings battle with each other today. Wood plays Muirhead and Munro plays Hamilton this morning. In the afternoon Muirhead is up against Munro, Wood against Hamilton. Howard and Milne are not necessarily out of it yet, depending on the results of these games. Only the top three go forward to the playoffs.

Find all the results and linescores here.

The Bruadar Men's Championship is still very open after five rounds, with four round robin games to go. Note that Colin Hamilton and Lee McLeary sides have fallen off the board - actually just out of sight at the bottom of the rankings in the photo above. Follow the results and linescores here.

Elsewhere in the curling world you should keep an eye on our GB young curlers in Poland here, and our students in Harbin (here). I note Sarah Reid's team lost their opener to Bingyu Wang's Chinese side.

GB medals at EYOF in Poland

2009-02-18T22:11:00.005Z

Both GB curling teams at the EYOF in Poland are guaranteed to be bringing home medals - the question is which colour? Colin Dick's team finished the round robin with a 4-1 win-loss record, in second place in the standings, and will meet the winners of a tiebreak between the Czech Republic and Norway in the semifinal, the winner will play Switzerland in the final.

There's a report of the boy's game against Poland on the event website here which I think you will enjoy. Just to explain, the 'new player', to which Colin refers is Struan Wood, who got a game when Blair Fraser had to sit out with an injured shoulder. The report says, "Our new player hasn’t anything to do with the old one playing bad, we just gave him a shot. We’re quite confident and not afraid of other teams.”

Anna Sloan's girls are unbeaten with one game to play. If they win this match against Denmark they will be straight to the final and will come home with silver at least!

The scores and standings are here.

There's a photo gallery on the official website here, from where these two pics have been taken (thank you to the organisers for putting them up). The pics in the gallery give a good impression of the rink, and as I've said before I really like the wall bars! The only one that shows anything of the GB teams is below - that looks like Colin Dick in the far distance.

The photo at the top shows the spectators. I recognise a few faces!

Focus on seconds

2009-02-18T15:53:00.001Z

I've decided to carry on the serious tone in last night's blog. We are all concerned with the consequences of the recession and looking to save the pennies. So today's blog is all about 'seconds'. Not 'first quality' today. All seconds. Is there anyone out there who still remembers when the player who delivered the third and fourth stones for the team was called the 'silly second'? The main qualities of that player was the ability to make takeouts, keep his or her mouth shut, and be able to count, this latter attribute being useful for keeping the scorecard up to date.

So, as a former member of the Front End Union myself, I give you.... the seconds at Perth!

Steven Mitchell is second player for the Iain Watt team, and Scottish Junior Champ too.

Richard Woods is a stalwart of Pete Loudon's side.

Lorna Vevers is second for the Kelly Wood team, and a member of the GB Olympic squad, see here. Horses and quad bikes are passions outwith curling.

Scott Macleod, here trying his best for a Wallace and Gromit impersonation, is second for Glen Muirhead.

Jennifer Priestley is usually lead for the Gillian Howard team. But today, with 3rd player Alison Kinghorn sidelined with illness, the team had to play with three. So Jen was having to work hard as the single sweeper! In vain as it turned out, as the team went down to Kelly Wood.

Ross Paterson is number two for Hammy.

Eyes of the Day award goes to Ron Brewster, from the Tom Brewster side.

Sharon Stewart delivering here - this season she's second stones for Gail Munro. Seen here with 3rd Lyndsay Wilson.

Robbie Stevenson from the Ross McLeary team. He's the one with the perspiration problem - see yesterday's blog! Wearing his sweat resistant outfit today.

Always popular on the blog, here's Team Claire Hamilton's second Rhiann 'I've got a friend to lean on' Macleod. Caitlin Barr is the friend in this case.

Well kent television commentator - amongst many other talents - David Smith from the Warwick Smith side.

Rachael Simms is second with the Eve Muirhead team. She's my favourite colour on the ice.

Everyone knows Pete Smith from Team Murdoch.

Lynn Cameron is second for Mairi Milne. There's been a huge amount of interest (well, one comment) since we highlighted the fact last night that she can pass her body through a wire coathanger, see here.

David Reid from Alan Smith's team.

Karen Strang is in the programme as lead in the Judith McFarlane team, but today certainly she was playing second stones.

Barbara McFarlane, second for Sarah Reid whose team this week is being skipped by third player Kerry Barr as Sarah is in China at WUG where the curling begins tomorrow.

And today's caption competition. This is Billy Johnston from Colin Hamilton's side.

Find all the serious stuff here and here.

Nominations at Perth

2009-02-17T19:24:00.023Z

"I like the Curling Today blog, Bob, but it's just too ..... superficial. Too flippant. Not enough seriousness, analysis, depth." So the conversation went. I have resolved to change, forthwith.

It was talk of the nominations that did it. You will have seen (here) that for the first time there is going to be an election for the Royal Club Vice-presidency, and even more significant, there are five candidates for the two available places as Directors on the RCCC Board. I look forward to hearing more about their platforms, and if any want to take out a full page ad on Curling Today, then my palm is waiting to be crossed. I'm totally unbiassed... "Go Bob!" No, not me. Another one.

So what did talk of the nominations do? It being nomination season, why not have some nominations at Perth. I sought nominations for the Columba Cream 'Team of the Day'. There was just one anonymous nomination nominated anonymously by Edith Loudon, for Team Milne. So, tonight we will look in depth at just one of Scotland's top eight women's curling teams!

Here they are - Team Milne. Check out their website at www.milnemaniccurlers.co.uk. They don't yet have a fan club, but if you are a member of the Scottish Curling Forum, log in and send a personal message to Gramacho83, he could probably be persuaded to be the interim secretary!

So let's start by introducing the hard working front end, above, bad hair day.

Katie Loudon is the shy one on the left, and Lynn Cameron on the right.

This is a bit better pic of lead Katie. She's had a long and distinguished career - see here. Ask her about her Olympic rings tattoo on her 'lower back' and if the yellow ring has faded?

This is second player Lynn Cameron. She's a member of the GB Olympic Squad. You can see her profile here, where you will learn that she can fit her body through a wire coathanger!

And here's the front end getting ready to do the job they're paid to do on skip Mairi Milne's stone.

This is the back end. Third Claire Milne is on the left, Mairi, her sister, on the right. I would say which is older, but I prefer to think of them as twins!

Whenever Team Milne competes, the stands are always packed with excited fans.

They are looking for a new sponsor. Their current arrangement with Homebase Own Brand Duck Tape runs out at the end of the season.

Coach Edith Loudon is an integral part of the team. A formidable competitor, she announced her retirement recently and has embraced new challenges in Wine Country, see here.

Third Claire is a stalwart member of the side! She's the local curling development officer.

One of Team Milne's best attributes is that they approach every game with the utmost concentration.

All the team are very receptive to the coach's suggestions in timeouts.

And did they win tonight? Well.... no. Scottish champ Gail Munro (above) did it to them in a close game that went to the last stone. You can find all the results from all the games here, with a link to the CurlingZone stats and shooting percentages.

Pics by Bob. That's all for tonight. I'm going to put the camera away now and watch some of the men's games. You know where to find the results! Back tomorrow.

More Tuesday at Perth

2009-02-17T13:56:00.001Z

Second round of the Bruadar Scottish Men's Finals. Colin Campbell and Tom Brewster. You can find all the results, standings and linescores here. Brewster beat McMillan this afternoon.

Pete Loudon

Warwick Smith. Don't panic, concerned wellwishers are taking a collection to buy him some new blades for his razor.

Chief ice tech Paul Martin begins another chapter of his biography. He's looking for a title. Any suggestions? "Life in the freezer." "Travels with my nipper." "Sanding Stones for Beginners."

David Murdoch. Bit of an 'oops' today as they gave up a point to Glen Muirhead's juniors.

The Editor brought his halo with him today. (Photo courtesy of Liz Paul)

Richard Woods and Logan Gray

Lee McCleary

Steven Mitchell and Iain Watt

It's a problem with perspiration. When he sweats his tattoo shows through his shirt. Who said the men's teams weren't colourful?

Hammy McMillan

Gerry CurlingZone Geurts. He's bashing his stats volunteers into shape. By the end of the week they might have the hang of it! See the stats here. Brought to us this week with support from British Curling.

Alan Smith and Colin Hamilton. Colin has donated his Easyjet uniform to a charity shop!

And talking of Seniors, here's newly crowned Scottish Senior Champion Anne Malcolm on the timeclocks!

Pics by Bob except where indicated.

Tuesday at Perth

2009-02-17T12:04:00.022Z

This is how the standings were before this morning's games in the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Championship. You can find the linescores and results here, and stats here.

Cream of Curling, Eve Muirhead!

Katie Loudon, Mairi Milne, Lynn Cameron. The Milne team are right back into it with a win over the Muirhead team this morning.

Just to prove that black is occasionally allowed on the blog, this is Rhiann Macleod.

There were some new faces on the ice this morning. Sarah Reid's team were missing two players, on international duty elsewhere, so Kerry Barr moved up to skip the team and it was good to see Jacqui Byers competing again.

Gail Munro and Kerry Barr

Gail angled the red on to the yellow to count a four and ensure her win this morning.

Former World Champion Katriona Fairweather was also recruited to play today for Kerry.

Judith McFarlane had her chances today. A hit on the nose with her last stone would have given her team a win over Kelly Wood. But she was wide, and failed to get shot.

Here's Jude again with Karen Strang and Fiona Steele. Jill MacDonald's in the head.

Kelly Wood

Lindsay Wood, Jackie Lockhart and Lorna Vevers

Here's two more well kent faces, but new here. Claire MacDonald was in place of Lauren Gray in the Claire Hamilton team. Alison Kinghorn was in place of Kay Adams in the Gillian Howard side.

Dor Borthwick is Chief Umpire (second attempt to get her name right!)

Remembering our roots

2009-02-16T22:34:00.003Z

It may be the biggest week of the curling calendar within the confines of the Dewar's Centre, but I was reminded today of our sport's roots with this photo of Valentine's day play at Tarland. On Saturday eight clubs (16 teams) from the Deeside Curling Association played a bonspiel on outside ice, competing for the Barclay Harvey Trophy. The cup was won by Bouties Curling Club with Banchory CC second.

George Rogerson, the Banchory CC President, reports, "The ice was very stiff, so those who had not maintained a keen side on their stones had great difficulty getting anywhere near the head."

I don't think those playing in the Bruadar Scottish Men's Championship and the Columba Cream Ladies Championship will have that problem!

George says about Tarland, "A very good time was had by all." I hope they do too, at Perth!

Many thanks to George Rogerson for the photo above.

EYOF girls post first win

2009-02-16T15:20:00.003Z

Anna Sloan and her GB team (see here) have won their first game in Poland, beating Anna Siderova's Russian side 8-4. (Siderova competed at the Glynhill Ladies International last month, her photo is here)

You can follow the results from the other round robin games this week on curlinglive.com. Thanks to those behind the site there for posting the end by end linescores live. Much appreciated. Now, if they could just archive the linescores as well as the final scores! Please. (Note that it says on the site, "We're still in development stage, site exclusively for this event." There's no email contact.)

Above L-R: Hannah Fleming, Lauren Gray, Anna Sloan, Becca Kesley and Alice Spence. Photo by Hugh Stewart.

EYOF off and running

2009-02-16T11:11:00.005Z

Heavy snowfall may have delayed the start of some of the events at the European Youth Winter Olympic Festival in Poland but the curling is underway.

Colin Dick and his GB team have won their first game, against Norway, 10-2 in seven ends. The results are here. The girls are up next against Russia.

The RCCC website is carrying a BOA story about Anna Sloan getting the honour to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony. See it here.

Top L-R: Struan Wood, Kerr Drummond, Blair Fraser, Colin Dick and Jay McWilliam. Photo by Hugh Stewart.

Now for the Grand Masters

2009-02-16T00:05:00.002Z

Well, that's the Seniors Championships over. What next this week? Well on Friday, February 20, Greenacres is hosting a brand new event, the Grand Masters Bonspiel 2009. Grand Masters? We have Schools, Under-12, U-13, U-15, U-17, Juniors, Seniors, Masters. The Grand Masters is a natural progression for those over 70.

We like the idea. Curling is inclusive of so many groups in our society. There's special competitions for men, women, farmers, teachers, doctors, police, oil workers, postal workers, Rotarians, the media - I even have my name on the Brass Whisk! The top curling students in the World will be competing this week in China.

In my collection of curling memorabilia a treasured newspaper clipping has the headline 'Blackface Breeders Compete'! (Think sheep)

There's wheelchair curling, and the sport is becoming available to the deaf and those who are visually impaired. Left handers even have their own World Championship! There's active gay and lesbian curling leagues in North America.

Blondes, brunettes and redheads all have their own spiels in many countries. No sign yet of an event for bald editors, but the World Curling Federation sent some scouts to Bangkok recently to investigate the suitability of the three rinks in the Thai capital (see here) for the world's first ladyboy curling championship, following the successful day that the touring group (see here, parental advisory) had at Murrayfield during last year's Edinburgh Festival. Now, that would be colourful!

(OK, so some of the above is not true, but curling needs visionaries!)

Sixteen teams have entered for the 2009 Grand Masters, including well known names like Jim Waddell, Bill Watt and (the original) Hammy McMillan. They’ll play in two sections, games will be of six ends and the winner will be determined by games won, ends, shot difference, shots scored.

PS: The Bonspiel is a couple of Grand Masters short, if you know any who would like to take part, please get them to contact the Greenacres rink. Note that the competition is not yet open to Grand Dames (or should that be Grand Mistresses) - something about the reluctance of the organisers to ask any of our ladies their age! Next year perhaps.

But wait. There's something else happening this week. The Bruadar Scottish Men's Championship and the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies' Championship are on at Perth! The men begin this evening (Monday). You can find the draw here. The women are first up Tuesday morning. Results to date are here.

Expect blogging from Perth come Tuesday.

Scotland's Senior Champions

2009-02-15T18:09:00.004Z

Marion Craig (skip), Rhona Fleming, Catherine Raeburn and Anne Malcolm

Tommy Fleming, Robin Aitken, Lockhart Steele and Keith Prentice (skip)

Seniors' finals

2009-02-15T17:20:00.003Z

The two finals went ahead this afternoon, deciding the Scottish Seniors curling titles and who would be representing Scotland at the World Seniors in Dunedin.

It was David Clydesdale against Keith Prentice, for the men's championship. Prentice, Lockhart Steele, Robin Aitken and Tommy Fleming took a three at the fourth and stole a pair at the fifth for a 6-1 lead. It should have been all over, but David Clydesdale, Alistair Wood, Jim Taylor and Douglas Rodger did not think so. They came back strongly with four at the sixth and it was game on. They stole at the seventh to be in a tied game coming home. There were lots of stones around in the eighth, but Clydesdale could not get a shot counting and Prentice did not need to play his last.

Marion Craig was up against Jacqui Crawford for the women's title. This was a friendly game. Marion took a three at the first and promptly gave up four. By the fifth end it was 5-5. Crawford, with Elaine Semple, Pat Ross and Fiona Macfarlane, stole a single in the sixth, Craig took a fine three in the seventh to be two up coming home, without. With her last stone of the eighth Marion had a straightforward takeout for the title... and missed. But she and her team of Rhona Fleming, Catherine Raeburn and Anne Malcolm clinched the title in an extra end.

Marion Craig and Jacqui Crawford

David Clydesdale

Keith Prentice delivers, with Tommy Fleming and Robin Aitken in attendance.

World Champs before, let's hope that Keith and team can keep it up in Dunedin!

Pics by Bob. Presentations later.

Seniors' semis

2009-02-15T11:48:00.028Z

Four semifinals this morning at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton. First to be decided made the home support happy, when Marion Craig, Rhona Fleming, Catherine Raeburn and Anne Malcolm beat Kay Gibb, Judith Carr, Rosemary Morrison and Kate Henderson, a stolen four in the fifth end sealing that game.

Jacqui Crawford hit and stayed to count a three in the sixth end of the other semi. Although the teams played on for another end, Jacqui, Elaine Semple, Pat Ross and Fiona Macfarlane would have another match today. Janette Wilson, Norma Brown, Irene Hird and Maggie Mauchline would not.

Keith Prentice made a double takeout to count four at the seventh end of his semifinal, and that prompted the handshakes from the Don Stark team of Gordon Mackie, Bill Allison and John Wallace. Prentice, Lockhart Steele, Robin Aitken and Tommy Fleming, the 2007 World Senior Champions, were into the Scottish final.

Colin Hamilton, Gary Macfarlane, Don Rutherford and Gordon Crawford were two up without, playing the last end against David Clydesdale, Alistair Wood, Jim Taylor and Douglas Rodger. Clydesdale rolled his first off a front guard behind cover. In trying to wick it away for the game, Hamilton edged his own front stone into shot position behind another guard. Clydesdale then had to play the run back, rolling the shooter into play to force the extra end. This he did.

With his final stone of the ninth, Hamilton had to draw fully to the eight foot for a place in the final. He threw it well enough, but for a couple of sweeps more he would have made it. After a measure, it was Team Clydesdale which advanced.

All the linescores are here.

It's Pinocchio again! Irene Hird, Janette Wilson and Maggie Mauchline.

Keith Prentice comes out to join Lockhart Steele and Robin Aitken. Good to see Robin has discarded the black bin bag look!

Elaine Semple and Pat Ross work on Fiona Macfarlane's stone.

Don Stark

Bill Allison and John Wallace work on Gordon Mackie's stone.

The rink got even busier as the semis progressed.

'I just can't bear to watch.' Other captions are available.

I was impressed that there were three Royal Club Directors on the ice this morning. Here is Lockhart Steele at work with Tommy Fleming. This reminds me. Nominations for two positions on the Board closed yesterday. I wonder if anyone wants to be a Director?

And I thought curling was supposed to be fun! Kay Gibb and Marion Craig.

Here's another Director - Irene Hird!

'Easyjet ground staff have training exercise at Hamilton.'

Anne Malcolm and Catherine Raeburn sweep Marion Craig's stone.

'Right Gary, when I put this hand out, that means I want you to play the outturn. The stone should rotate anticlockwise when you let it go. You're not a left hander are you?' Colin Hamilton and Gary Macfarlane. (Other captions are available)

David Clydesdale joins his sweepers.

Alistair Wood and David Clydesdale

And here's the third Director - Anne Malcolm

Pics by Bob

GB teams for Universiade

2009-02-14T19:38:00.004Z

Here are the two GB curling teams at the airport today ready to depart for Harbin, China, to compete in the World University Games.

Back L-R: Michael Goodfellow, Sarah Macintyre, Vicki Adams, Sarah Reid, Kay Adams, Laura Kirkpatrick, Thomas Pendreigh. Front: Andrew Craigie, John Hamilton, Ian Copland.

Photo by Hugh Stewart.

More Saturday Seniors

2009-02-14T16:32:00.017Z

Playoffs are the order of the day at the Senior Championships at Hamilton! In the women's event Jacqui Crawford's team won their rematch against Annette MacDonald (just - it took an extra end after the four end tiebreaker)) and they are through with Marion Craig from Section B to Sunday's semifinals. So too is Janette Wilson's team, top in Section A. There was a three way tie in this section for second place. Ena Smith had beaten the other two teams and gets a bye, while Kay Gibb and Mary Barr contest a tiebreak. The winner of this plays Smith, again over four ends, for the semifinal place.

Keith Prentice and David Clydesdale are both through to tomorrow in the men's event. The others are still battling away for the other semifinal places. Find all the results, linescores and standings here.

Here is what the camera captured today!

Mary Barr - 'Before'.

Mary Barr - 'After'. Actually she played a good shot, against two. I would not like to show the pic when she plays a bad one!

Kay Gibb v Janice Howard

'Everything was OK until they started to mate!'

Janette Wilson. 'What was that about Pinocchio?'

Ena Stevenson and Wilma Brownlie

International umpire Dor Borthwick shows good style as a competitor.

Team decision making from the Jim Hogg team.

Billy Henderson (right) pretending he's not with teammates Will Davidson-Gall and Greig Henderson!

Gary Macfarlane and Don Rutherford working hard on Gordon Crawford's stone.

David Clydesdale

This is the David Clydesdale team discussing options!

Billy Nairn implementing Section 4 a of the Beginners' Manual. 'Always check to see that the stone is still there.'

Andy McGlynn

Pics by Bob. That's all from today. More tomorrow.

Saturday at Hamilton

2009-02-14T11:59:00.007Z

Marion Craig's team are through to the semifinals of the Scottish Seniors Championship. They defeated Kate Burnett's team in their last round robin game this morning.

Annette MacDonald and Margaret Armstrong. The MacDonald team beat Jacqui Crawford's side this morning to set up a tiebreaker. That will be at 14.00 this afternoon, winner to the semifinal. The other section has another round to play later today. The men have two rounds remaining. The RCCC website is up and running again after a problem yesterday with the hosting service, and all the results are here.

Jacqui Crawford

Pat Ross of the Crawford team delivers, with Fiona Macfarlane and Elaine Semple in attendance.

Anne Malcolm looks as if she has been spending too many nights agonising over the Vernon Report!

Harbin bound

2009-02-14T00:01:00.003Z

Sarah Reid (skip), Kay Adams, Vicki Adams, Sarah Macintyre and fifth player Laura Kirkpatrick, and John Hamilton (skip), Andrew Craigie, Thomas Pendreigh, Michael Goodfellow with Ian Copland (5th) will be on their way to Harbin, China, later today. The two teams will compete for Great Britain in the Winter Universiade or World University Games.

There's more about the curlers on the British Curling website here.

The event's English website is here, and is full of information. That's where the photos are from!

The Universiade runs from February 18-28. Youth, future, ice and snow! Is it too late for me to get a flight?

Top: This from a dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony, which is certain to be spectacular!

The curling competition will take place in the Heilongjiang Skating Gym, in Harbin City. The first games are on Thursday February 19, with the finals on Friday 27. Scott Henderson is ice technician. There are more photos of the venue here.

This is a group of volunteers taking a 'solemn oath' prior to the event.

Rehearsing presentations.

EYOF teams

2009-02-13T19:03:00.004Z

Here they are, at the airport today, on their way to one of their life's big experiences, the two GB curling teams heading for the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival. Back L-R: Kerr Drummond, Hannah Fleming, Lauren Gray, Anna Sloan, Becca Kesley, Alice Spence, Blair Fraser. Front: Struan Wood, Colin Dick, Jay McWilliam.

Photo by Hugh Stewart

Poland here we come

2009-02-13T00:05:00.003Z

The young curlers who will be wearing GB shirts at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival fly out to Poland early afternoon today, Friday, February 13.

Until now, only the individuals in the two squads have been named (see here), but Curling Today can reveal that the starting lineup for the first games in Bielsko-Biala will be Anna Sloan (skip), Hannah Fleming (3rd), Lauren Gray (2nd) and Alice Spence (lead). The fifth is Rebecca Kesley. The team coach is Debbie Knox. Rhona Martin has been in charge of putting the GB challenge at the EYOF in place. She intends to ensure that everyone plays and says it is likely that Alice and Rebecca will alternate at lead. All the girls were battling it out in different teams in the final stages of the recent Scottish Junior Championships, but competed together at the Glynhill International in January.

The men’s team will line up as Colin Dick (skip), Blair Fraser (3rd), Jay McWilliam (2nd) and Kerr Drummond (lead). Struan Wood is the 5th. Hazel Wood is the team coach. I think this is a strong team and will be out to put their respective disappointments of the past weekend behind them!

You can find out more details about the curlers here.

Official website for the event is here. Hopefully this will be good for getting all the results, but if it's not and I hear news I'll post it here. The teams will have plenty of support in Poland, as most of the families will be in the arena to cheer them on. No doubt messages will be being passed home so can I ask any readers of the blog to please let me know what is happening. I wish I could be there!

Top: If my Polish is up to scratch this looks like a pic of the hall where the curling is to take place!

The Seniors are on the ice

2009-02-12T16:30:00.018Z

So, here we are again. Juniors last week at Perth, Seniors this week at Hamilton. What was that about 'sublime' and 'ridiculous'. No, it's great. You can follow all the linescores, standings and results on the Royal Club website here.

This is the Keith Prentice team in the photo above. They have some story about ordering new colourful uniforms and them not being available in the appropriate XXXXXL sizes! Aye, right!

I haven't quite figured out what Maggie Rutherford is doing in this pic!

Marion Craig and Rhona Fleming

Caption competition 1. Marion Craig and Jean Robertson

Chief Umpire Malcolm Richardson

Maggie Scott is third for the Jean Robertson team

Lockerbie's Kate Burnett

Jan Howard

Jacqui Crawford

Ian Gillespie and Barton Henderson

'No animals were hurt in the making of this movie.' Ena Smith

'Through A Glass Darkly' is an abbreviated form of a much-quoted phrase from the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13. The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality. See Curling Today, see Educational! See Wikipedia.

Caption competition 2. Bob Smellie and Colin Hamilton

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - Elaine Turnbull

Will Davidson-Gall ready to sweep Barton Henderson's stone

Pretty in Pink. RCCC Board member Anne Malcolm.

Pics by Bob. More on Saturday and Sunday if all goes well.

Outside curling at Glenesk

2009-02-12T08:49:00.006Z

The Glenesk Curling Club has a new outside rink at Tarfside, and play was possible recently... at night. The full story is on Edzell CC's fine blog here.

One of the stars of the evening was World Curling Federation Vice-president Kate Caithness, here demonstrating good form on the crampit.

Thanks to Mike Ferguson for the photos.

The Road to Dunedin

2009-02-11T09:50:00.005Z

Twelve men’s and thirteen women’s teams will compete in the Scottish Senior Curling Championships this week at the Lanarkshire Ice Rink, Hamilton. The winners will be Scotland's representatives at the World Senior Championships in Dunedin, New Zealand, April 25 - May 2.

The World Curling Federation took a bit of a gamble in awarding the World event to New Zealand, the first time such a prestigious competition has gone 'down under'. There were fears that many countries would withdraw because of the increased costs. This has not proved to be the case as fourteen countries will send men's teams and eight women's teams, just slightly less than last year.

However, it has been a dilemma for some teams on the Scottish Senior circuit, where members felt unable to commit to time away from work or family, and the additional expense, should they win at Hamilton. These teams have not entered. Aware of the problem, the Royal Club has made available additional funding for our representative teams this season, see here.

But there is controversy looming. As recently as last week, the skip of one of the favourites for the men's senior title had not committed to travelling to Dunedin, if his team were to win the championship. A replacement is on standby. The question is really what are the teams playing for this week? Are they playing just to become National Champions, or are they competing for the right to represent Scotland at a World Championship?

I am not happy with the thought that the team which wins the title does not go on to the Worlds. I don't want to see an untried team - all of whose members did not win the right to go to New Zealand - don Scottish jerseys, and travel, partially at members expense, to the world event. I believe that if you know you cannot play at the Worlds, you should not be competing at Hamilton. I suspect I am not alone in that view.

But let's see what happens! In both the men's and women's competitions, there are two sections with the top two from each moving forward to Sunday’s semifinals. The women begin their games this afternoon, the men tomorrow morning. Find all the results on the RCCC website here.

Fifth players for World Juniors

2009-02-10T11:47:00.005Z

Just a postscript to the Scottish Junior Championships. The fifth player who will go to Vancouver for the World Junior Men's Championship with Team Black is Glen Muirhead, who skipped the team which secured Scotland's place in the event at Taarnby in January. Alan Hannah is the coach.

Kay Adams, who did such a great job as fifth for Eve Muirhead in Ostersund last year, will again take on that role in Vancouver. Note to Vicki - careful on the stairs this year! Isobel Hannen is the coach.

The World Junior Championships website is here.

Top: Glen Muirhead photo by Richard Gray
Below: Kay Adams photo by Bob

Wheels off to Vancouver

2009-02-10T00:28:00.001Z

The Scottish wheelchair curling team flies out tomorrow to compete in the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Canada. Rosemary Lenton, Jim Sellar, Tom Killin, Aileen Neilson, and Michael McCreadie, seen above with coach Tom Pendreigh, will spend the time before the championship begins at a holding camp in Richmond, just south of Vancouver itself. Bon voyage and good luck to our team!

The World Wheelchair Championship, February 21-28, is the first event to be held at the new venue which has been built in Hillcrest Park, Vancouver, for the curling competitions at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. More information about the Vancouver Olympic Centre is here.

I've taken the following from the official WCF press release. "The 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championship features ten teams from three continents vying for wheelchair curling supremacy, including two-time defending champions Norway, skipped by Rune Lorentsen; 2008 world finalists Korea, led by Hak Sung Kim; and the 2008 world bronze medallists from the United States, skipped by Augusto Perez.

Canada will be skipped by Vancouver's Jim Armstrong, an accomplished able-bodied competitor from the 1970s and 1980s who will represent Canada at the event for the first time.

Other teams include Sweden's 2006 Paralympic bronze medallist Jalle Jungnell, Germany's Jens Jaeger, Italy's Andrea Tabanelli, China's Haitao Wang and Switzerland's Daniel Meyer.

The championship features two daily draws from February 21-26 with tiebreakers and the Page Playoffs scheduled for Friday, February 27. The semifinals take place Saturday, February 27 at 9:00am local time with the championship and bronze medal games taking place the same day, at 2:30pm local time."

The event website is here.

Photo courtesy of Tom Pendreigh

More Perth pics

2009-02-08T23:40:00.002Z

Someone had to be first into the cheap seats! Jane Barr, Caitlin's mum. And here are more photos from Sunday, in no particular order.

This from the semifinal. Kerr Drummond had lost his voice by this time. His team have had a hard loss to thole, but we'll see more of these young curlers in the future.

Caitlin Barr looking worried in the semifinal.

The seating filled up later. I'll leave you to work out who this lot were supporting!

Becca Kesley sets out on a delivery with Abi Brown and Alice Spence in attendance.

Anna Sloan

Abi and Alice work on Hannah Fleming's stone.

Steven Mitchell doing the work to the encouragement of Ally Fraser and Graeme Black.

Coach Allan Hannah in a timeout with Graeme Black and team.

Sunday bling. Rhiann Macleod.

Thomas Sloan, Graeme Black, Steven Mitchell.

Graeme Black and Jamie Dick

Ally Fraser and Colin Dick ready to sweep Jamie's stone.

Jamie and Graeme

Lindsay Gray

Sarah Macintyre and Vicki Adams at work.

Eve Muirhead with Sarah and Vicki in attendance.

Hannah and Eve

Thomas Pendreigh, Blair Fraser, James Dunn

Claire Hamilton

Pics by Bob

The Junior Finals

2009-02-08T17:25:00.005Z

Jamie Dick, Colin Dick, Lindsay Gray and Michael Goodfellow were the favourites going into the final against Graeme Black and his team, who had had little time to recover after their comeback win against Blair Fraser's side this morning.

But Graeme with Ally Fraser, Steven Mitchell (sorry Steve for previous typo) and Thomas Sloan were on a roll. They took a four at the third, and in the fourth stole a two. Jamie had come up just short with a draw against two, and without waiting to confirm that his team had lost a single, Colin Dick kicked his team's stone away, and so it was a two that went on to the board. Black was 6-2 ahead. He stole again in the fifth.

Jamie and his team fought on valiantly. A superb split in the ninth saw the Edinburgh medical student get two back, to trail by just two, 8-6, going in to the last end. It was too little, too late. Graeme's team played it well in the tenth, keeping the front open, and with last stone had an open hit for the championship title. He was right on target.

Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Sarah Macintyre were the favourites in the girls' final. But Hannah Fleming, Becca Kesley, Alice Spence and Abi Brown were more than a match for the reigning champ.... for much of the game. The score was 4-4 after six. Then Eve and her team counted a big three, and they were on their way to Vancouver for the World Juniors. Hannah offered the handshakes after eight.

You can find a synopsis of the games here.

L-R: Sarah Macintyre, Vicky Adams, Anna Sloan and Eve Muirhead

L-R: Graeme Black, Ally Fraser, Steven Mitchell and Thomas Sloan

Pics by Bob

Junior semifinals

2009-02-08T13:05:00.004Z

The semifinals of the Scottish Junior Championships took place at Perth this morning. In the girls' event Hannah Fleming, Becca Kesley, Alice Spence and Abi Brown lined up against Claire Hamilton, Lauren Gray, Rhiann Macleod and Caitlin Barr. In a close, well fought game, Hannah's team counted two at the ninth to be two up coming home, and ran the Hamilton team out of stones for their win and a place in the final against Eve Muirhead.

In the junior men's semi, it was Graeme Black, Ally Fraser, Steven Mitchell and Thomas Sloan against Blair Fraser, skipping the Kerr Drummond team. Kerr was playing third stones, Thomas Pendreigh second and James Dunn was lead. When Blair and his team stole a two at the sixth for a 5-1 lead, it should have been all over. Graeme and his team didn't think so. They took a single at the seventh and then stole three singles in a row to set up an extra end.

It came down to the last stone. Blair had a draw to the eight foot, but was too heavy. It would be the Graeme Black team which would contest the final agaist Jamie Dick.

Linescores and some comments on the game (that's new) here.

Top: The Murray Trophy and other trophies on show as play gets underway.

Becca Kesley calls line for her skip, as Claire Hamilton and Lauren Gray watch behind.

This was the shot that almost cost Team Black the game, as the red stone just finished a couple of sweeps short.

Graeme Black and Blair Fraser

Caption competition: "Now, what do you think we should play?".... says coach Marion.

Pics for Bob.