Happy Birthday Anna

Anna Sloan, nineteen today.

Lots of puff

Pics by Bob

Scottish Junior Women's Championship

This was a big game in the Scottish Junior Women's Championship this morning - Anna Sloan v Lauren Gray. At the Columba Cream Scottish last week, Anna had been the stronger team at Perth. Both teams had won their two games at Curl Aberdeen yesterday. There was little between them this morning. It went to an extra end, and Lauren had the whole twelve foot to find with last stone. She stopped in the back twelve, for her victory and an unblemished record.

You can find all the results and standings on the Royal Club website here.

Pic of Lauren and Anna by Bob.

Scottish Junior Championships

Next stop in a busy season is Curl Aberdeen where the Scottish Junior Curling Championships get underway today. There are eleven teams in the junior women's competition. I remember last year finding it difficult to explain how the eleven teams are going to end up as three for Sunday's semi and final. Here goes again!

There are two sections of six and five. Each section completes a round robin, and the top four teams combine to play in a further section of eight. Each team will have already played three of these teams, and their record against these teams is carried forward. After four more games, against the four teams that had started out in the different section, the top ranked team progresses straight to the final; second and third contest a semi. I hope that makes sense.

The draw for the first games, which get underway at noon, can be found here, and the results will be here. Anna Sloan (above) and her team of Claire Hamilton, Vicki Adams and Rhiann Macleod have to be the ones to beat.

The junior men's competition has its first round tomorrow, Wednesday, at 12.30. The eight teams were decided in a prequalifying competition at Ayr, see here. Glen Muirhead, Greg Drummond, Thomas Sloan and Michael Goodfellow start as favourites. The draw is here, and results here. But given how unpredictable junior curling can be, who knows what will unfold this week. It's bound to be entertaining though!

Photos by Bob

Columba Cream Scottish Ladies' Championship

It's eyes on the Dewar's Centre in Perth this Saturday and Sunday where eight teams are vying for the remaining six places in the Columba Cream Scottish Ladies Championship. Only two teams, skipped by Eve Muirhead and Gail Munro, are already in the final eight for the first round proper of the competition, at Curl Aberdeen, November 19-22.

Of the eight teams in the prequalifying competition this weekend, four are still juniors. The pre-qualifier will be played in two sections with the top three teams in each section going forward. I can envisage playoffs galore on Sunday!

Anna Sloan (pictured above), Lauren Gray, Gillian Howard and Judith McFarlane skip their teams in Section A, and Jennifer Dodds, Hannah Fleming, Claire Milne and Sarah Reid are in Section B. Hard to say who will be the odd ones out, so I'm not even going to begin to speculate!

First games are at 09.30 on Saturday. It's the beginning of the road to the world championships. The Ford World Women's Curling Championship will be held in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada, March 20-28, 2010. Yes, there will be life after the Olympics!

Elsewhere in the curling world, Eve Muirhead's Team GB are in the draw for the 2009 Colonial Square Ladies Classic in Saskatoon. This is a thirty-two team triple knockout. The results will be here. The GB side is up against Robyn Silvernagle's Saskatchewan team in their first match tomorrow (Friday, November 30).

David Murdoch and the men's Team GB are in Brooks, Alberta, for the 2009 Cactus Pheasant Classic, which gets underway today. The twenty-four team lineup contains the top Canadian sides, see here. The results should be here.

Photo of Anna Sloan practising at Lockerbie recently is © Skip Cottage.

Women in Basel

Eve Muirhead, seen above with Karen Addison practising at the Dewar's Rink in Perth last week, takes the GB Olympic squad to Basel this weekend for the RE/MAX Women's Masters. This Curling Champions Tour event is a twenty-four team triple knockout. The GB team plays Kirsty Balfour's English side in their first game at 11.00 tomorrow.

Also in the draw at Basel is Anna Sloan's junior team. Seen above with front end Rhiann Macleod and Vicki Adams at the Lanarkshire Rink last Sunday, Anna has Claire Hamilton playing third this year. The Basel event will be a good workout for the team, and great experience for them in their first season together. They have an early start at 08.00 tomorrow, against a Czech Republic team. We should be able to find the results here.

The rest of Scotland's juniors are in action at the Kinross Classic this weekend.

And elsewhere, the Scottish Mixed Seniors Championship is on at Stranraer, a test for the new ice on the new floor, which I described here. The draw is on the RCCC website here, and the results are sure to be there too. There are four sections, some with five teams, others with just four. Play begins at 12.15 tomorrow.