Scottish Pairs Championship

Congratulations to Ayr's Neil Kennedy and Richard Goldie who won the Scottish Pairs title today beating Frazer Erskine and Andrew Campbell (Harvies) in the final.

L-R: Richard Goldie, Neil Kennedy, David Henderson (RCCC), Janet McMillan (presenting), Frazer Erskine, Andrew Campbell.

Photo courtesy of Gail Munro.

A Three Championship Weekend

I've already mentioned that the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Championship begins tomorrow (Friday) at Curl Aberdeen. The results will be here. Two other national titles will be decided this weekend.

The Scottish Pairs Championship is at Stranraer. Twenty-four pairs are in the draw in the competition which will be run in four sections, see here. I think it is unhelpful that the Royal Club website only indicates the participants' rinks, and not the competitors' names. I wonder who is playing!

(Added later, 14:30. A team list download has now been added to the competition website here. Perhaps someone at Cairnie House read Skip Cottage Curling this morning and took my comment on board. If so, thank you, whoever it was.)

The team list for the Scottish Schools' Championship can be downloaded from the competition page, here. The finals return to Murrayfield after last year at Forfar and have the twenty-four teams which have qualified during the season for the final stages of the competition. The teams will play in four sections. First games are at 11.00 tomorrow. The Duncan Menzies team from Arbroath High School won last year, see here. Robert Fawns was third player in the winning team and skips that school's entry this season.

Scottish Pairs

All the results from the Scottish Pairs Championship can be found from this page.

Bill Scott sends this report on the final stages:

"Sunday's semifinals were closely fought with excellent shots being played by all pairs, the results being in doubt until the final shots were played. After six ends Stranraer (Gail Munro and Hammy McMillan) and Perth (Robin Niven and Graham Shaw) were on three shots each after six ends. In the extra end Stranraer took advantage of the hammer to win the game. In the other semi Lockerbie (Scott Hamilton and David Hamilton) took a single in the sixth end to win by one shot over Kirkcaldy (Alan Marshall and Colin Howden).

In the final Lockerbie had the hammer and took a single in the first end followed by another in the second. The third was blanked and Stranraer had a one in the 4th. The 5th end was blanked leaving Lockerbie going into the 6th with a one shot lead and the hammer. At the third last stone Stranraer drew a stone behind a long guard to lie one. Scott Hamilton, the Lockerbie skip tried to drive the guard on to the shot to remove both, but missed narrowly. Hammy McMillan then drew a shot between guard and shot stones to lie two. Scott had a very slim chance to get one. He narrowly failed to do this and the Stranraer pair were the winners by one shot. This was an enthralling final which kept the spectators glued to their seats.

In the absence of an official representative of the President of the RCCC, Bill Scott asked Fiona Hardie to present the trophy and prizes to the winners, Hammy McMillan and Gail Munro of Stranraer (photo above), and to the runners-up, Scott Hamilton and David Hamilton of Lockerbie."

Thanks Bill for this report.

Photo courtesy of Bill Scott. L-R: Gail Munro, Fiona Hardie, Hammy McMillan.

Still busy

There's another busy weekend in the curling world coming up. The Scottish Wheelchair Curling Championship is at Curl Aberdeen. Eleven teams are on the start line, playing in two sections, from 09.30 tomorrow. The draw is here.

The Scottish Pairs are in Stranraer. Twenty-four pairs play in four sections, beginning at 10.00 tomorrow. The draw is here.

The Scottish Schools Championship is at Forfar. The twenty-four teams which have come through prequalifiers will play in four sections. First games are at 11.00. The draw is here.

And not to forget the Capital One World Women's Championship in Esbjerg, already previewed here.

Anna Sloan's first game is against the Czech Republic first thing on Saturday morning. The official event website is here.