European Seniors at Greenacres

The first stones of the fourth European Seniors’ Curling Championships will be thrown at Greenacres at 08.30 tomorrow (Wednesday).

Eighteen men’s teams and twelve women’s teams will battle it out through to the final games on Saturday. The Championships have attracted entries from all over Europe.

Russia is represented in both the men’s and women’s events and there will be teams from Switzerland, Sweden, England and Ireland as well as some of the newer curling countries, e.g Iceland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. The Latvian men’s team is travelling all the way from Riga by road and sea.

Of course the home country is well represented. You can find the draw and results here.

ESIC Final Album

This was the scene at Greenacres yesterday, the two European Seniors Invitation finals taking place side by side.

Keith Prentice (front) was fortunate to qualify for the playoffs, in eighth place. In the quarters the Prentice team defeated the hitherto unbeaten David Clydesdale, then Gary Macfarlane in the semis. Colin Hamilton beat Michael Sutherland in the quarters, and Sweden's Pelle Lindeman in the semifinal. All the linescores can be found here.

Colin Hamilton

Keith Prentice

Lockhart Steele delivers with Tommy Fleming and Robin Aitken ready for sweeping duty.

Mike Dick is throwing, with Ian McPherson and Trevor Dodds at the ready.

It's a serious business! Lockhart Steele.

Ingrid Meldalh and Jacqui Crawford. The Swedes had beaten Alison Reekie in the semifinal. Jacqui and her team had needed an extra end to get past Kirsty Letton in the other semi.

Sylvia Liljefors and Birgitta Torn sweep their skip's stone.

Jacqui Crawford

Alison MacLennan delivers with Elaine Semple and Fiona Macfarlane ready to sweep.

Ingrid Meldahl

All hands to the pumps, as Ann-Catrin Kjerr joins her skip and the front end.

Alison is a study in concentration...

... as she watches Elaine and Fiona looking after her stone.

Well done to Team Meldahl and Team Prentice on their wins.

Photos are © Skip Cottage. There's one more on the POTM page.

ESIC Winners

L-R: Tommy Fleming (lead), Robin Aitken (2nd), Lockhart Steele (3rd) and Keith Prentice (skip) stole the extra end against Colin Hamilton and his team of Mike Dick, Ian McPherson and Trevor Dodds to win the men's event of the European Seniors Invitation Curling Championships at Greenacres today.

L-R: Sylvia Liljefors (lead), Birgitta Torn (2nd), Ann-Catrin Kjerr (3rd) and Ingrid Meldahl (skip), with 'team manager' Gunilla Bergman in the middle! The Swedes beat Jackie Crawford's team of Elaine Semple, Alison MacLennan and Fiona Macfarlane in the final of the ESIC women's competition today.

Thanks to Lockhart for the snippet that both winners were the gold medalists at the 2007 World Seniors in Edmonton!

Find the linescores here. I'll have some photos from the finals tomorrow.

Pics © Skip Cottage

Update from Greenacres

John Brown has been watching the men's quarterfinals of the European Seniors Invitation Curling Championships and writes about these, and the history of the event, here, or you can click on his link on the right.

Thanks John!

European Seniors Invitation

I much enjoy following the Team McWilliam blog, see here. The irreverence of the young always brings a smile to my face. They are on their way to Canada, and have sent an open letter to Keith Prentice, their regular coach, gently berating him for choosing to play in the 'Coffin Dodger Championship' rather than accompanying them to Canada! Anyway, that's Keith at the back of the head at Greenacres yesterday, playing against Michael Sutherland's English side in the European Seniors Invitation Curling Championship, to give the event its correct name. Keith and his team of Lockhart Steele, Robin Aitken and Tommy Fleming, the current Scottish Senior Champions, have won one and drawn one so far. The results can all be found here.

Turquoise is a lovely colour, especially on the Alison Reekie team, don't you agree?

David Smith for Ireland.

It wouldn't be a Seniors competition without Kirsty Letton and her team.

Margaret Withycombe and Ronnie MacDonald

Wim Neeleman, the Netherlands, and Pelle Lindeman, Sweden.

Good to see Pelle Lindeman, an old friend, curling again in Scotland.

A warm welcome to the Russian senior women's team. Tatiana Zaitseva is in the head, as third player Nadezda Zyablova follows her stone which is being swept by Larisa Pismenova and Lyubov Ozerova.

A Russian senior men's team was due to take part but had to call off because of a family illness.

Marion Craig was substituting for the Scottish Senior champions in their game against the Russians yesterday. Here Lynne Stevenson and Elma McCulloch watch her stone.

"Penny for them!" Alison Reekie

Team discussion. The Czech men.

And the Czech women are here too.

"Ah well, can't win them all!" or "For this stone which we are about to receive....." Wim Neeleman.

European Seniors Invitation

It was a poignant moment at Murrayfield on Saturday past when the Scottish Senior Ladies' Champions lined up on the ice. You see, the girls never had the chance to wear their national colours. The team was all packed up and ready to leave for the Worlds in Chelyabinsk when flights were cancelled because of the Icelandic volcano.

That's Lynne Stevenson, Edna Nelson, Isobel Waddell, Kathleen Scott and Elma McCulloch L-R in the photo above. The disappointment was shared by the Senior Men and Mixed Doubles teams. I doubt that any curling teams have ever had such a frustrating, and disappointing, experience as last April.

Anyway, I mention the Senior Ladies' Champions today because Isobel, Elma, Edna and Lynne are competing in the European Seniors Invitation at Greenacres this week. They won the event last year.

Lined up at the Renfrewshire rink are twelve women's teams including representatives from Sweden, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia and seven teams from Scotland.

Eighteen men's teams, from Sweden (2), England (2), the Czech Republic, Ireland (2), Netherlands, Finland (2), Russia, Wales, Hungary, Norway and Scotland (4), play in three sections. Karl Nordlund's Swedes are back to defend their title.

The competition gets underway at 08.30 tomorrow morning (Wednesday) with semis and finals scheduled for Saturday. Find the results here.

Pics © Skip Cottage