This was only Scotland’s third win so far, and they are now no longer in medal contention with five teams above Scotland in the current rankings, each on a won six, lost two record.

The Scots play Sweden in their final round-robin game on Thursday morning, and a win would ensure they avoid the need to go to next season’s qualification event.

Results, news and photos from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2012 can be seen on the event website: http://www.wwhcc2012.curlingevents.com

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World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Tuesday Review

Scotland suffered two losses in Tuesday’s play at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Chuncheon, Korea, making a huge dent in their medal hopes for this year.

In the morning session, they lost out by 4-6 to table-topping USA and then followed that up by going down by 2-9 to hosts Korea.

Afterwards Skip Aileen Neilson said, “we just didn’t get to the game against Korea today. I don’t think we played particularly badly, but they just didn’t let us in at all”. The Scots are now in joint sixth place on the rankings and face two must-win games on Wednesday, against table-topping Slovakia and Italy.

Report: Mike Haggerty

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World Wheelchair Curling Championship – Monday Review

Scotland had a second successive day of mixed fortunes at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Chuncheon, Korea.

They followed up a 4-1 win over Russia with a 5-6 defeat at the hands of Canada to give them a won two, lost two playing record. These results put them in joint fifth place alongside Canada and Korea, with unbeaten USA setting the pace.

Speaking after their win over Russia, Scottish skip Aileen Neilson said, “we knew the Russians like to have stones out at the front and tap them in, so we just made sure that we didn’t let them do that. We went in with a game plan and stuck to it and it paid off in the end”.

The Scots go onto to play Slovakia and then Italy on Wednesday, with victories in both games looking increasingly vital.
Results, news and photos from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2012 can be seen on the event website: http://www.wwhcc2012.curlingevents.com

Report: Mike Haggerty; Picture: WCF

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World Wheelchair Curling Championships – Sunday Review

There were mixed fortunes for the Scots on the opening day of round-robin play in the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Chuncheon, Korea.

Skip Aileen Neilson and her team of Tom Killin, Gregor Ewan, Angie Malone and alternate Jim Gault lost their opener against China by 5-6 before recording their first victory with a steal of two in the extra end for an 8-6 win over Norway in their second game of the day.

After the Norway game, Neilson said, “it’s nice to get a good first win, on day one. It gives us a lot of confidence going into tomorrow – when hopefully we will start off how we finished this evening aganist Norway”.

The Scots now face Russia in their third game on Monday.

Results, news and photos from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2012 can be seen on the event website: http://www.wwhcc2012.curlingevents.com

REPORT: Mike Haggerty; Picture: WCF

Winning Students – Scotland’s national sports scholarships – currently support more than 100 promising student athletes in colleges and universities across Scotland. Recipients include European Ladies Curling champions Vicki Adams and Anna Sloan and Scottish and British All Styles Karate champion Calum Robb.

Scholarships provide up to £5,500 of funding support coupled with academic flexibility to help student athletes achieve their sporting and academic goals.

Applications are sought for current or prospective students competing in individual sports such as athletics or in small combination sports like doubles tennis.

Athletes competing in badminton, golf, hockey, judo, orienteering, squash, swimming, triathlon and women’s football should not apply as these are core sports of the programme and applications are submitted directly by the sport’s national governing body.

To be considered for a 2012-13 Winning Students Individual Scholarship, athletes should have attained the following, or demonstrated the potential to achieve:

• Top 25 at the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games or World Championships
• Top 15 at the European Championships or Commonwealth Games
• Top 5 at the World University Games or World University Championships

Scholars must also meet the general selection criteria, outlined at:
www.winningstudents-scotland.ac.uk/selection

The nomination process closes on 31 March 2012, and nomination forms can be submitted by the athlete or by the governing body of sport; the college or university on behalf of the athlete, but must carry a signature from all three parties to be considered. Anyone not yet at college or university should provide proof of application (college) or a UCAS number (university).

The nomination form is available to download at: www.winningstudents-scotland.ac.uk/selection/individual-scholarship-selection Completed forms should be submitted by post to: Jason Atkins, Winning Students Co-ordinator, University of Stirling, Gannochy Sports centre. Stirling, FK9 4LA

Representatives of the Winning Students Advisory Board will consider the nominated athletes and selection for an Individual Scholarship will be confirmed in early October 2011.

For further information on the scholarship programme, please contact Programme
Co-ordinator Jason Atkins on 01786 466 553 or email jasonward.atkins@stir.ac.uk

There were many juniors playing in their first event out-with their home rink and some more established juniors who already compete in the Under 17 Slam. The speed of play was excellent allowing the competition to stay on schedule time-wise and there were some fantastic shots played throughout the day.

The sections were all closely contested, all going to the last game to determine the qualifiers for the semi-finals. Teams skipped by Ryan McCormack (Lockerbie), Finlay Campbell (Kinross), Euan McDiarmid (Forfar) and Andrew Archibald (Forfar) all won their sections. Euan McDiarmid and Finlay Campbell were victorious in their semi-final games and therefore fought it out for 1st place and the maximum of 12 ‘Slam’ points.

In the final, Euan McDiarmid and his team of Ewan Maguire, James Craik and Frazer Smith started well, scoring in the first two ends and going 2-0 up however there was a strong fight back from Finlay’s team who scored 1 in the third end and stole a 2 in the 4th and final end to win 3-2.

Finlay’s team of Kerr Sands, Callum Kinnear and Drew Thomson received their prize of Asham mitts and Braehead vouchers and now go into pole position for the Asham Under 14 Slam event at Aberdeen on 3rd March.

Points for the Slam have been awarded as follows; Finlay Campbell – 12 points, Euan McDiarmid – 9 points, Andrew Archibald – 7 points, Ross Cormack – 5 points, Luke Carson – 5 points, Sandy Scott – 5 points and Scott Lockhart – 5 points.

In addition to the main event, those curlers not involved in the semi-final stages had the option to take part in a ‘Nearest the cone’ competition which was won by Nicola Joiner from Forfar who drew her stone to the exact spot of the cone.

This was a low-scoring game – with six blank ends – but there was plenty of high-class play.

As Page Play-off winners, the Smith team had the hammer but Brewster made the first break-through in the third end when Perth’s fourth player Warwick Smith came up short with his final draw and handed Brewster a steal of two. After three blank ends, Smith made up for his earlier mistake by playing a brave promote on his own stone to knock out two Brewster stones, score two and level the game.

Brewster took the lead again straightaway in the eighth when he played a delicate split on two front stones to nudge one of them and his own shooter in for another two. Smith was then looking for two to level again, but was forced to blank the ninth and then, in the tenth, good play by Brewster’s team left Smith with an impossible doule attemept to let Brewster steal another single for the win that gave his team their second successive title and the right to represent Scotland in April’s World Men’s Championships in Basel, Switzerland.

Afterwards, Brewster emphasised how important it was for their mental state that they had won before. He said, “do you know what was easier?…I slept really well last night, as opposed to all the other finals I’ve been in. Winning last year gave us such confidence this year. We knew what we had to do, we knew how to come out and play and which shots we had to play. Even though Smith’s team don’t play a, lot, they’re still good curlers”.

Speaking about taking the lead as early as the third end, he added, “it was a long game. We’ve played in a particular way this week and we had a poor start, but we kept to our game-plan. It was just a case of making sure we had the hammer down the last, or being two up, and that’s what we did”.
Highlights of the game will be broadcast on BBC 2 Scotland at 7.00pm on Wednesday 22nd, February, exactly 24 hours after the women’s highlights.

Report: Mike Haggerty

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The Leslie Ingram-Brown Sportsmanship Award which is voted for by the players, was awarded to Cammy Smith of Team Young.

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Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Women’s Final

Eve Muirhead claimed her third national title when she led her team of Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton to what eventually became a one-sided 9-3 win over Stranraer’s Gail Munro in Sunday’s final of the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships in Perth.

After swapping singles in the first two ends, Muirhead carved out a score of two in the third to take a two-shot lead and then doubled that with a steal of two in the fourth when, Munro’s attempt to clear both of Muirhead’s counters and blank the end wrecked on the way in.

Munro came back with a single in the sixth, but a precision take-out around guards with her first stone eventually allowed Muirhead the luxury of a straight nose-hot for four shots in the seventh.

When Munro could only score one in the eighth, she conceded what had by then become an impossible task, although her new team now make their exit with enormous credit, exceeding possibly even their own expectations in reaching the final.

Afterwards, Muirhead said, “we know if we played the way we can play we’d win and we played great. It wasn’t going to be easy because Gail is one of those players that you can never write off and getting to the final with her two young juniors was pretty good. SO we knew we had to go out there focussed and I think we showed a lot of class from the start”.

Report: Mike Haggerty; Pictures: Richard Gray

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The Rhona Martin Sportsmanship Award which is voted for by the players, was won by Katy Richardson.

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Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Saturday Review

Perth’s Eve Muirhead and her European champion team of Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton beat Aberdeen’s former world champion Jackie Lockhart by 8-4 in front of a packed Saturday evening house in Perth to take their place in Sunday’s final of the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships.

Muirhead now faces Stranraer’s Gail Munro and her line-up of Lyndsay Cumming and newcomers Katie Wright and Jodie Milroy, who overwhelmed Lockerbie’s Hannah Fleming by 9-2 in the other semi-final.

The men’s final will see Perth’s David Smith and his team of Warwick Smith, Alan Smith and Ross Hepburn face defending champion Tom Brewster and his Aberdeen-based team of Greg Drummond, Scott Andrews and Michael Goodfellow.

Smith won the Page one versus two Play-off game by 8-5 over Aberdeen’s David Edwards on Saturday afternoon to take the direct route to the final, relegating round-robin leader Edwards to Saturday evening’s semi-final. Edwards lost that game too, by 2-6 to Brewster, who had come through the Page Play-off three versus four route, beating Inverness’s Ewan MacDonald by 6-5.

To reach that game, MacDonald had won his second tie-breaker, overwhelming Stranraer’s Jay McWilliam by 7-1 in just six ends on Saturday morning.

Both of Sunday’s finals are being web-streamed live by BBC Scotland, with the women’s final starting at 11.00am and the men’s final scheduled for 3.00pm.

Report: MIke Haggerty; Pictures: Robin Gray

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The Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Friday Review

With four teams tied at the top at the end of round-robin play on Friday, the women’s division of the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships in Perth has followed the RCCC rule-book and reverted to an old-fashioned semi-final format for its knock-out games, rather than the anticipated Page Play-off system.

The four teams are: Perth’s Eve Muirhead; Lockerbie’s Hannah Fleming; Stranraer’s Gail Munro; and Aberdeen’s Jackie Lockhart, and the playing record among the four placed them in that order, with Muirhead at the top of the pile, despite losing her last round-robin game by 5-7 to Galleon’s Sarah Reid.

Fleming had a 6-5 win over Murrayfield’s Kerry Barr, while Munro won her extra-end tussle against Murrayfield’s Jennifer Aitken by 8-7. Lockhart had completed her round-robin programme as the last session played out.

These results now mean that Muirhead will face Lockhart while Fleming is matched up against Munro. These games are scheduled for 7.30pm on Saturday with the winners going straight to Sunday morning’s final at 11.00am – a game which will be webcast live by BBC Scotand.

In the men’s event, David Edwards lost his unbeaten record on Friday evening, going down by 5-6 in an all-Aberdeen encounter to defending champion Tom Brewster.

Despite this, Edwards ranked top overall and goes into the Page 1 v 2 Play-off, where he will face Perth’s David Smith, who beat Murrayfield’s John Hamilton by 6-3. The winner of this goes strsaight to the final, with the loser having a second chance to get there by way of the Page system’s sole semi-final.

Brewster’s win secured third place on the rankings and he now goes into the Page 3 v 4 – the winner of which goes forward to the semi-final. Brewster still does not know who he will face in that game and awaits the winner of two-tie-break games among three teams to find out – Stranraer’s Jay McWilliam, who ranks first among the three tie-break teams thanks to his extra-end 6-5 win over Lockerbie’s David Murdoch and the fact that he has beaten both of his opposing tie-break teams; Murdoch; and Inverness’s Ewan MacDonald, who face each other in Friday evening’s first tie-breaker.

To reach the tie-breakers, MacDonald had beaten Stirling’s Logan Gray by 6-4.

Later, set up by a terrific freeze with his last stone, MacDonald beat Murdoch by 6-5 in the first tie-breaker when Murdoch’s final draw to out-count MacDonald’s freeze was just too long.

Once the second tie-breaker between MacDonald and McWilliam is concluded, the men’s division will see two Page Play-off games and a semi-final before the two teams that will play for the Scottish title on Sunday afternoon are determined. That game is scheduled to start at 3.00 and will be web-streamed live by BBC Scotland.

RESULTS

WOMEN

Round 9: Kerry Barr (Murrayfield) 6, Hannah Fleming (Lockerbie) 7; Sarah Reid (Galleon, Kilmarnock) 7, Eve Muirhead (Perth) 5; Gina Aitken (Murrayfield) 7, Gail Munro (Stranraer) 8 (extra end); Jennifer Dodds (Murrayfield) 9, Jennifer Martin (Galleon, Kilmarnock) 3; bye -Jackie Lockhart (Aberdeen).

Final standings: Muirhead, Fleming, Munro, Lockhart won 6, lost 2; Reid 5-3; Dodds 3-5; Martin 2-6; Barr, Aitkin 1-7.

Semi-final line-up: Muirhead v Lockhart: Fleming v Munro.

MEN

Round 8: John Hamilton (Murrayfield) 6, David Edwards (Aberdeen) 9 (extra end); Ewan MacDonald (Inverness) 6, Graeme Black (Lockerbie) 4; David Murdoch (Lockerbie) 6, Logan Gray (Stirling) 3; David Smith (Perth) 6, Tom Brewster (Aberdeen) 3; Murray Young (Forfar) 7, Jay McWilliam (Stranraer) 8.

Round 9: MacDonald 6, Gray 4; Edwards 5, Brewster 6; Black 7, Young 5; Murdoch 5, McWilliam 6; Hamilton 3, Smith 6.

Final standings: Edwards won 8, lost 1; Smith, Brewster 6-3; McWilliam, MacDonald, Murdoch 5-4; Gray 4-5; Black 3-6; Hamilton 2-7; Young 1-8.

Tie-break 1: MacDonald 6, Murdoch 5.

Page Play-off line-up: 1 v 2: Edwards v Smith (winner to final, loser to semi-final): 3 v 4: Brewster v tie-break winner (winner to semi-final, loser out).

Tie-break 2 line-up: McWilliam v MacDonald (winner to Page Play-off 3 v 4, loser out).

Report: Mike Haggerty; Pictures: Richard Gray

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The Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Thursday Review

Aberdeen’s David Edwards continued to dominate the men’s division of the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships in Perth, beating Forfar’s Murray Young by 6-4 and then Stirling’s Logan Gray by 8-2 on Thursday to maintain his unbeaten record after seven sessions of round-robin play, and guarantee himself a place in the weekend Page Play-offs in the process.

Behind him, defending champion Tom Brewster, also from Aberdeen is in second place on five wins, thanks to two victories on Thursday, by 8-5 over Murrayfield’s John Hamilton, and then by 13-7 over Forfar’s Murray Young.

Behind these two, three teams share third spot with four wins – Perth’s David Smith, Stirling’s Logan Gray, and Lockerbie’s David Murdoch, who had to produce a 7-5 extra end win over Smith on Thursday evening to keep his Championship hopes alive.

On three wins each, Inverness’s Ewan MacDonald and Stranraer’s Jay McWilliam are still “live” in the completion with two round-robin games to play, as are Murrayfield’s John Hamilton and Lockerbie’s Graeme Black on two wins each, but Forfar’s Murray Young cannot now qualify.

Meanwhile, in the women’s event, European champion Eve Muirhead and Aberdeen’s Jackie Lockhart both sealed qualification for the weekend’s knock-out stages yesterday.

Muirhead followed up an 11-4 win over early leader Gail Munro yesterday morning with a 10-4 win over Murrayfield’s Jennifer Dodds. Lockhart concluded her round-robin programme with two wins, beating Murrayfield’s Gina Aitken by 9-1 in the morning and then Kerry Barr, also from Murrayfield, by 7-5. Lockhart sits out today’s last round-robin session.

Munro recovered from her morning loss with a 12-9 extra end win over Lockerbie’s Sarah Reid to maintain her knock-out hopes. She now shares third place with Lockerbie’s Hannah Fleming.

RESULTS.

MEN

Round 6: David Murdoch (Lockerbie) 4, Ewan MacDonald (Inverness) 8;Murray Young (Forfar) 4, David Edwards (Aberdeen) 8; John Hamilton (Murrayfield) 5, Tom Brewster (Aberdeen) 8; Jay McWilliam (Stranraer) 5, Logan Gray (Stirling) 7; David Smith (Perth) 7, Graeme Black (Lockerbie) 6.
Round 7: Brewster 13, Young 7; Murdoch 7, Smith 5 (extra end); MacDonald 4, McWilliam 5;Black 6, Hamilton 4; Edwards 8, Gray 2.

Standings after 7 rounds: Edwards won 7, lost 0; Brewster 5-3; Smith, Gray Murdoch 4-3; MacDonald, McWilliam 3-4; Hamilton, Black 2-5; Young 1-5.

WOMEN

Round 7: Jackie Lockhart (Aberdeen) 9, Gina Aitken (Murrayfield) 1; Eve Muirhead (Perth) 11, Gail Munro (Stranraer) 4; Sarah Reid (Galleon, Kilmarnock) 5, Hannah Fleming (Lockerbie) 4; Jennifer Martin (Galleon, Kilmarnock) 8, Kerry Barr (Murrayfield ) 4; bye – Jennifer Dodds (Murrayfield).
Round 8: Muirhead 10, Dodds 4; Aitken 5, Fleming 8; Lockhart 7, Barr 5; Reid 9, Munro 12 (extra end); bye – Martin.

Standings after 8 rounds: Muirhead won 6, lost 1; Lockhart 6-2; Munro, Fleming 5-2, Reid, 4-3; Dodds, Martin 2-5; Barr, Aitken 1-6.

Report: Mike Haggerty; Pictures: Richard Gray

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Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Wednesday Review

In the men’s division of the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships, which are on-going in Perth this week, Aberdeen’s David Edwards continues to lead the men’s field, following up a 6-5 win over Lockerbie’s Graeme Black on Wednesday afternoon with a 5-2 win over Perth veteran David Smith in the evening session, giving him his fourth and fifth victories and making his team the only undefeated outfit left in the overall event.

Behind him, there is a four-team pile-up in second position that includes Smith, Lockerbie’s two-times world champion David Murdoch – who beat Forfar’s Murray Young by 7-5 on Wednesday evening; defending Scottish champion Tom Brewster from Aberdeen, who continued his recovery from a slow start with a 9-5 win over Inverness’s Ewan MacDonald; and Stirling’s Logan Gray, another slow starter who brought himself right back into contention with a 7-6 win over Lockerbie’s Graeme Black.

In the women’s event, three teams share a won four, lost one record – European champion Eve Muirhead from Perth; former Scottish champion Gail Munro from Stranraer; and Lockerbie’s Hannah Fleming. Aberdeen’s former world champion Jackie Lockhart and her team, have also posted four wins, thanks partly to a fighting 5-4 extra end win over Muirhead on Wednesday morning, but with two losses rather than the one loss the three teams tied in first place have recorded.

Sarah Reid, from Kilmarnock’s Galleon Centre sat out Wednesday evening’s session, and sits on three wins, just behind the four leading teams. She and Murrayfield’s Jennifer Dodds, who has two wins from six starts, remain in realistic contention for knock-out places.

RESULTS

MEN

Round 4: David Smith (Perth) 7, Jay McWilliam (Stranraer) 5; Logan Gray (Stirling) 11, Murray Young (Forfar) 3; Tom Brewster (Aberdeen) 6, David Murdoch (Lockerbie) 7; David Edwards (Aberdeen) 6, Graeme Black (Lockerbie) 5; Ewan MacDonald (Inverness) 9, John Hamilton (Murrayfield) 2.

Round 5: Gray 7, Black 6; McWilliam 9, Hamilton 4;Smith 2, Edwards 5; Brewster 9, macDonald 5; Murdoch 7, Young 5.

Standings after 5 rounds: Edwards won 5, lost 0; Smith, Murdoch, Brewster, Gray 3-2; Hamilton, MacDonald, McWilliam 2-3; Young, Black 1-4.

WOMEN.

Round 5: Jennifer Dodds (Murrayfield) 2, Gail Munro (Stranraer) 5; Kerry Barr (Murrayfeild) 3, Gina Aitken (Murrayfield) 4; Hannah Fleming (Lockerbie) 7, Jennifer Martin (Galleon, Kilmarnock) 6; Eve Muirhead (Perth) 4, Jackie Lockhart 5 (Aberdeen) 5 (extra end); bye – Sarah Reid (Galleon, Kilmarnock).
Round 6: Reid 8, Martin 6; Lockhart 5, Dodds 4; Muirhead 6, Aitken 5; Munro 7, Fleming 8 (extra end); bye – Barr.

Standings after 6 rounds: Munro, Muirhead, Fleming won 4, lost 1; Lockhart 4-2; Reid 3-2; Dodds 2-4; Martin 1-5; Barr, Aitken 1-4.

Report: Mike Haggerty, Pictures: Richard Gray

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The Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Tuesday Review

Curl Aberdeen’s David Edwards is setting the pace among the men’s teams at The Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships in Perth, and stands alone as the only undefeated skip after three sessions of round-robin play.

In his second game on Tuesday morning, Edwards had a win over Stranraer’s Jay McWilliam when McWilliam ran out of time before completing his last delivery. He then followed that up with a confident 7-5 win over one of his main rivals, Lockerbie’s David Murdoch.

Because of this Murdoch now shares second spot with Perth’s veteran David Smith, who beat Stirling’s Logan Gary by 7-6 in Tuesday’s morning game, only to go down by 7-8 to Ewan MacDonald from Inverness in afternoon play, and Murrayfield’s John Hamilton, who lost to Murdoch by 3-6 on Tuesday morning before recovering with an 8-7 victory over Forfar’s Murray Young.

Defending champion Tom Brewster from Aberdeen had mixed fortunes, recording what is his only win so far, with a six-end 11-3 defeat of Lockerbie’s Graeme Black in morning play, but suffering a second defeat, by 1-8 to Stirling’s Logan Gary afterwards, as Gray opened his account.

In the women’s event, the European champions led by Perth’s Eve Muirhead have carried all before them and are undefeated after three sessions, coming from behind to beat Murrayfield’s Kerry Barr by 9-3.

Later, with Muirhead’s team sitting out the fourth session, former Scottish champion Gail Munro from Stranraer joined them on three wins, following up a 7-6 win over Jackie Lockhart, Aberdeen’s former world champion, with a 7-6 win over the Kilmarnock team of Jennifer Martin.

Earlier Martin’s team, with substitute skip Claire Milne in charge, beat Murrayfield’s Gina Aitken by 9-7, while the other Kilmarnock team, led by Sarah Reid, also won, beat Murrayfield’s Jennifer Dodds by 7-3, before going on to beat Aberdeen’s Lockhart by 7-4 in the evening session.

RESULTS

MEN.

Round 2: Graeme Black (Lockerbie) 3, Tome Brewster (Aberdeen) 11; John Hamilton (Murrayfield) 3, David Murdoch (Lockerbie) 6; Murray Young (Forfar) 8, Ewan MacDonald (Inverness) 5; Logan Gray (Stirling) 6, David Smith (Perth) 7; Jay McWilliam (Stranraer) lost to David Edwards (Aberdeen).

Round 3: Edwards 7, Murdoch 5; Smith 7,macdonald 8; McWilliam 4, Black 10; Hamilton 8, Young 7 (extra end); Gray 8. Brewster 1.

Standings after 3 rounds: Edwards won 3, lost 0; Murdoch, Smith, Hamilton 2-1; McWilliam, Young, Brewster, Gray, Black, MacDonald 1-2.

WOMEN.

Round 3: Kerry Barr (Murrayfield) 3, Eve Muirhead (Perth) 9; Jennifer Dodds (Murrayfield) 3, Sarah Reid Galleon, Kilmarnock) 7; Gail Munro (Stranraer) 7, Jackie Lockhart (Aberdeen) 6; Jennifer Martin (Galleon, Kilmarnock) 9, Gina Aitken, (Murrayfield) 7; bye – Hannah Fleming (Lockerbie).

Round 4: Fleming 7, Lockhart 4; Munro 7, Martin 6; Dodds 6, Aitken 3; Barr 5, Reid 4: bye – Muirhead.

Standings after 4 rounds: Muirhead, Munro won 3, lost 0; Munro 2-0; Fleming 2-1; Lockhart, Reid, Dodd 2-2; Martin, Barr 1-3; Aitken 0-3.

Report: Mike Haggerty, Picture: Robin Gray

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Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships – Monday

In Monday’s opening day of round-robin play at The Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Curling Championships in Perth, the women had two round-robin games, and former champion Jackie Lockhart from Aberdeen gave herself the perfect start, with two wins.

She beat Sarah Reid from Kilmarnock’s Galleon Centre by 7-5 in her opener and followed that up with a six-end 8-1 victory over Jennifer Martin’s team, also from the Galleon Centre. This was the second defeat of the day for a disappointed Martin team, depleted by last-minute illness problems.

European champion Eve Muirhead from Perth also enjoyed two opening day wins, following up an 11-5 defeat of Martin with a tighter 7-4 victory over Lockerbie’s Hannah Fleming. Earlier, Fleming had beaten Murrayfield’s Jennifer Dodds by 8-2. These results mean that Lockhart and Muirhead are tied at the top of the rankings.

Stranraer’s Gail Munro only had one game on Monday and she was taken all the way to an extra end by Murrayfield’s Kerry Barr before emerging as a 9-8 victor.

In the men’s event, defending champion Tom Brewster from Curl Aberdeen lost his opener by 3-5 to Stranaraer’s Jay McWilliam, while Lockerbie’s David Murdoch beat another Lockerbie quartet, skipped by Graeme Black, by 7-4, and Perth’s David Smith beat Forfar’s Murray Young by 7-3. In what was the men’s only session on opening day, Inverness’s Ewan MacDonald lost out by 4-9 to Aberdeen’s David Edwards, while Murrayfield’s John Hamilton beat Stirling’s Logan Gary by 7-2.

RESULTS.

WOMEN.
Round 1: Munro 9, Barr 8 (extra end); Fleming 8, Dodds 2; Martin 6, Muirhead 11; Lockhart 7, Reid 5. Bye- Aitken.
Round 2: Aitken 2, Reid 9; Martin 1, Lockhart 8; Barr 2, Dodds 8; Fleming 4, Muirhead 7. Bye – Munro.

MEN.
Round 1: Young 3, Smith 7; Brewster 3, McWilliam 5; Gray 2, Hamilton 7; MacDonald 4, Edwards 9; Black 4, Murdoch 7.

Picture: RCCC/ Richard Gray

The Finals are taking place on Sunday 19th February at the Dewars Centre, Perth:

Women’s Final, 11am: Muirhead V Munro

Men’s Final, 3:10pm: Brewster V Smith

Admission is free so please come along and show your support. Please note tiered seating will be available ice rink side only for the Finals so please ensure you wear adequate clothing.

Highlights of both Finals will be shown on BBC 2 on Tuesday 21 February at 7pm for the Women’s and Wednesday 22 February at 7pm for the Men’s.

The brainchild of Marion Murdoch this fun competition was a winner and enjoyed by all.  With the added twist of 2 extra stones out front in play before the start of each end, it made for interesting ends, not least the possibility of a 9 ender!

Included in the day was a feast of soup and sandwiches for lunch with the star turn being homemade scones with jam and cream by the catering staff Linda and Janet!

Some really good curling was on display but at the end of the day the prize winners  were Jim Sellars , Gill Keith, Keith Thorn and Blair Murray.  The new salver for this annual competition was presented to the winners by Blair Murray. Runners up were Ian Donaldson, Arthur Bell, Leslie Barr and Valerie Robertson.

Watch out for the date next year,  you don’t want to miss it.

Featured photo above of the winners L-R: Jim Sellar,  Blair Murray, Keith Thorn and Gill Keith. Photo by Jim Thomson.

Photo below of the participants.  Photo by Jim Thomson.

Our immediate priority is to consider how we can best support local curling in the Kinross area, whether by working with the KCT, clubs or the existing facility at the Green Hotel.  We will also be conducting a review of the National Curling Academy Project to find lessons that we can all take forward to future facility developments.  We hope to publish the findings of this review within three months.

Aileen Neilson and her team of Tom Killin, Gregor Ewan, Angie Malone (the current silver medallists) and new member Jim Gault,  have put in the practice and are keen to deliver  a good performance under the watchful eye of new Head Wheelchair Coach Tony Zummack.

The 10 team field includes holders Canada, Italy, USA, China, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Scotland, Korea and for the first time Slovakia.

Follow their progress at wwhcc2012.curlingevents.com

Featured photo by Bob Cowan.

Around 60 members and friends enjoyed a dinner and were entertained by 2 after dinner speakers in an evening ably chaired by President Arthur Bell.  The toast to the club was proposed by Ian Dunn of South Lanarkshire Disability Sport.  A splendid celebratory cake, donated by keen supporter Boyd Tunncok, was cut by three original members of the club, Craig Taylor, Jim Sellar and Angela Higson.

An evening, enjoyed by all, was completed by a hearty vote of thanks by Miller Stoddart.

Featured photo L to R: Craig Taylor, Miller Stoddart, Jim Sellar, Boys Tunnock and Angela Higson.  Photo by Paul Webster.

Vice President – Alan Durno

Director (three vacancies)

Leslie Ingram-Brown

Robert Kelly

Catherine Maclean

Graham McWiggan

Information provided by the candidates can be found under Downloads.  Members will be given the opportunity to vote for their preferred candidates online and by post in advance of the forthcoming AGM.  Members who wish to cast their vote in person can do so at the AGM itself on production of their membership card.  Details of voting procedures and the timetable will be advised at a later date on this website and by email to those where we hold an email address.