Sunday, 9th of February 2020

Scottish Curling Championships 2020

Scottish Curling Championships 2020 – Finals Day

Read all about out Women’s Final here.

Read all about our Men’s Final here.

Scottish Curling Championships 2020 – Semi-Finals

After a tense and dramatic day of play on the ice at Dewars – with some very high scoring games – we now have our 2020 Scottish Curling Championships finalists. Team Muirhead will take on Team Wilson in the women’s competition at 11am. The men get a slightly longer lie in, with Teams Mouat and G Muirhead taking to the ice at 4pm.

We caught up with both skips, after the semi finals:

”We are very proud to make it to the finals, as our hard work has paid off. We’ve had 2 great games against Eve this week, the scorelines are getting closer; if we play our best we can get that trophy”

Maggie Wilson

”We came out firing and I’m proud of our performance. If we are playing well, we can make the game run a long way. We need to control the game and force them into some tight shots, and if we do that, we could win”

Bruce Mouat

Best of luck to all the teams taking part tomorrow, in what promises to be a wonderful day of curling.

We are very happy to say both finals will be streamed live on the BBC, you can watch them here.

1v2 Playoff

Team G. Muirhead edge out Team Mouat in their 1v2 playoff game. Muirhead hung in for three ends with Mouat dominating most of the game, but Muirhead rallied in the second half and forced Mouat to hit against 2 in the last end, rolling out to allow Muirhead to steal the game. Muirhead progresses to the Men’s final at 4pm tomorrow, and Team Mouat will face Team Paterson in the semi final tonight for a chance at redemption. Final Score 8-7.

The Women’s playoff game took place on the adjacent sheet and played out to a comfortable Team Eve Muirhead win against Team Wilson with a final score of 6-3. Team Wilson will now have to face the semi final and play the young Farmer outfit. Team Muirhead progress straight to the Women’s final at 11am.

You can watch the Men’s semi-final live here: https://bbc.in/31Uv75B

Tomorrow’s Finals will be livestreamed via the BBC Sport Website here: https://bbc.in/2UYHKeL

Day 4

This was really the day, where we found out the direction of the competition, going forward. The top three men’s teams were decided after their mid-afternoon draw, and they are Teams Mouat, Paterson and G Muirhead; Paterson defeating Bryce the only other possible challenger in the round robin.

The women’s field was much more open, but still, by early evening we now know that the three teams who will face off are Teams Muirhead, Wilson and Farmer.

We are delighted to say the women’s playoff 1 v 2 and the men’s semi-finals will both be broadcast on the BBC at 12 noon, and 7pm.

You can watch the games here

Day 3

What a day!

Four draws, sixteen games, and some spectacular results here on day three of the Scottish Curling Championships.

In the women’s competition, this morning saw a few big scores from Teams Muirhead and Jackson as they sit hot on the heels of Team Wilson at the top of the leader board. In the afternoon games, we had big wins for Farmer and Wilson, who triumphed over Kesley (10-4) and Dakers(11-4) respectively. Team Muirhead played well in their game against MacDonald, leaving little room for MacDonald to keep any stones in the house. Team Jackson played a close game against Davie, with Davie up 1 after the fifth. Jackson came back with 5 in the seventh and 3 in the eighth before handshakes.

In the men’s games at noon, we saw an unexpected handshake after five ends between Teams Mouat and Paterson, a game predicted to go down to the wire, but eventually ending 10-1, after Mouat played a spectacular thin double and subsequently stole a big 4 in the fourth. Bryce came back swinging after last nights 4-6 defeat against G.Muirhead to defeat Carson 12-5 this afternoon – some really clever tactical shots in this game. This evening we saw more tactical and indeed tighter games. Our men’s teams are becoming more accustomed to the ice and conditions here at Dewars, and are mastering utilising these to their advantage.

The passion and fire clearly evident in today’s play from both the men’s and women’s teams, however some powerful displays of this should remind teams to control their emotions without removing the passion for the game and maintain their processes. All in all, it’s been a super exciting and unprecedented day here in Perth and it bodes well to continue another few days of excellent curling.

You can keep up to date with scores here, as well as regular updates on our social media pages. We are delighted to announce that Friday’s games and Saturday’s Finals will be livestreamed and will be available on the BBC Sport website. Updates on where to find the stream will be issued tomorrow and the link will be added here.

DAYS 1 & 2

The competition is off to a flying start here at the Dewars Centre, Perth and already we have been treated to some exceptional curling on some aggressive ice creating some challenges for our competing teams.

Day one brought us a similar picture to last year’s women’s final with a big head to head. Team Jackson defeated Team Muirhead with a final score of 7-6 after an extra end, despite Muirhead leading 4-2 after the fifth end. Team Jackson suffered an interesting blow at the end of their games on day two however when Team Wilson emerged victorious from their playoff with a score of 9-5.

In these first couple of days, we’ve seen a few surprises with our men’s teams with Team Carson beating Team Whyte 8-7, after a scoring a 2 in the tenth and a 1 in the extra end. In the second round of the men’s draw, Team G. Muirhead defeated European Men’s Bronze Medallists Team Paterson with a convincing score of 7-3 and certainly a tense watch for those spectating.

As games came to a close today we see Teams Wilson and Mouat topping their respective leaderboards as we head in to day 3.

We caught up with British Curling National Coach and Olympian, David Murdoch about how the championships are going so far,

“I think we’ve already seen some fierce and competitive shot making. The teams are playing hard and we can see a lot of fire in each individual team, they’re there to win. We’ve started with some great ice conditions, we’ve seen a lot of curl out there which is great and has led to some aggressive strategy and some equally great shot making which comes from that. There’s a lot of really good battles ahead but so far so good, and hopefully we’ll see a lot of people in to watch them.”

Plays starts again tomorrow from 8am – view complete line scores and current standings here

SCOTTISH CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS, 2020 – Preview

Scotland’s curlers begin the quest for domestic dominance on Monday 10 February as the Dewars Centre, Perth once against plays host to the Scottish Curling Championships. Eight men’s teams and eight women’s will fight for the right to represent their country at the upcoming World Curling Championships. These championships start the journey to the 2022 Winter Olympics and for the men offer the rare chance to represent their country on home ice as Glasgow hosts the World Men’s Curling Championship 28 March – 5 April 2020.

Men’s Championship

Two-time defending Scottish champions Team Mouat will be looking to complete the hat trick as play commences on Monday. They have been the best performing team on the World Curling Tour this year and look in the same ominous form capturing their first title at the 2020 Perth Masters in January. The team have only ever lost one game at the Scottish Men’s Championship in their current form and so are the team to beat. They were however beaten earlier this season in the European Playdowns as Scotland were represented excellently by Team Paterson. The team earned Scotland a bronze medal in that European outing and will be keen to add to their international medal haul come April. Skip of Team Paterson, Ross had the privilege of representing Scotland on home ice before, at the 2016 European Championships an experience that will drive him on in Perth. One of his teammates at that event was skip of last year’s runners up – Glen Muirhead. He, along with his 2018 Olympic teammates, came so close to winning the European Playdowns in October and will be desperate to take that final step up the podium and win the national title.

Two other teams who have made waves on the World Curling Tour this season, who will be eyeing up a playoff spot in Perth are Team Bryce and Team Whyte. The former junior teammates now skip two teams who are amassing serious pedigree and experience on tour. Team Bryce – in their first year as a team – have mixed it with the best this year and will have no fear taking on their domestic rivals. Team Whyte have had stellar form making it to the playoffs in all 10 events they have played in this year including taking two titles – one in Dumfries and one in Prague. Having missed the men’s championship last year due to participation at the World Juniors, Ross and his squad will be relishing their chance to break through and take the top curling prize in Scotland.

Rounding out the field are Teams Carson, McNay and Young. Luke Carson has transitioned from the junior ranks with a fledgling team who have showed promise, with two members of the team representing Scotland at their first world championship at the world mixed curling championship, held in Aberdeen earlier in the season. Cammy McNay and Murray Young are comfortable with the underdog tag and will know that every dog has its day. Every game will be hard fought but with their past scalps will know they are capable of making it count in Perth.

Women’s Championship

The women’s competition sees Sophie Jackson return to the scene of last year’s remarkable national championship victory. The team’s valuable experience at the world championship in Denmark is sure to have made them hungrier than ever. Despite a difficult season on the World Curling Tour, they will know they have what it takes to beat every team in the field and if they make it to the final on Saturday, they will believe that they can make it two in a row. Sure to offer a stern challenge are last year’s runners up – Team Muirhead. With a myriad of national and international medals, Eve Muirhead has led her new team to a much improved season after battling back from serious injury last year. After being a whisker away from a European Gold Medal in November, the team are brimming with confidence after winning the Perth Ladies International and defending the Continental Cup as part of Team Europe.

Team Wilson have gone from strength to strength this year as they have continued their transition to the World Curling Tour level. The addition of fourth stone thrower Rebecca Morrison has shown dividends with a semi-final in Finland followed by a run to the final in the Perth Ladies International. They will be keen to repeat that feat on their return to the Dewars Centre, of course hoping to flip that final result. Sophie Jackson is not the only current national champion in the field as the current Scottish Senior Women’s Champions Team Kesley hope to roll back the years as they continue their preparations for the Senior Women’s Championship at Hamilton later in February. Although they will play down their own chances, underestimate this experienced team at your peril.

The chasing pack consists of four teams ready to make some noise as they move through the junior ranks and into women’s competition. Former Scottish junior champions Hailey Duff and Amy MacDonald have reunited and hope the combination’s success repeats with new teammates Rachel Haliday and Layla Al-Saffar. Team Davie won last year’s junior title and will look to bounce back from their playoff losses at this year’s junior championship. Rachel Dakers will skip a team of junior curlers as she marks her first women’s championship appearance. Finally, Team Farmer may have lost the recent Junior Women’s final by the finest of margins but will be buoyed by their semi-final appearance at the Perth Ladies Open and relish testing themselves against a host of their peers and former national champions.

The Format

Both men’s and women’s teams will play a single round robin finishing on Thursday evening before a mini page playoff. This format will see the top two teams face-off in a playoff game with the winner proceeding to the final. The loser will then have another chance to make it to that final, competing in a semi-final against the third placed team.

Both competitions will reach their climax on the biggest day of the Scottish Curling circuit: Scottish Championships Finals day on Saturday 15 February. The women’s final will take place at 11am ahead of the men’s final at 4pm. Tickets available here including options for a hot buffet lunch provided at the venue (must be booked before Wed 12 Feb at 1pm).

Our Official event programme is available here, and we’ll be keeping fans up to date with live line scores here, and regular posts on our social media channels.