12-10-2023, 22:58
Just a few words of explanation to the above post. England's Anna and Ben are definitely on the right, so by a process of Holmes'-like deduction (that's Eamonn Holmes by the way) it must be Scott and Annabelle on the left. Ireland, Scotland and Wales are much easier. The correct names are in a mirror image of the players in the photos.
Now, for the extras. Scotland have a habit of younger teams getting international experience in the Mixed competitions. Their Gold Medal in 2017 was won by skip Grant Hardie, who is currently Bruce Mouat's 3rd player. In 2016, skip Cameron Bryce's Bronze Medal team included Bobby Lammie, Mouat's 2nd player. Cameron Bryce also won Silver in Aberdeen in 2019. England have been represented regularly for over 10 years by the Fowler siblings. Andrew Meikle of Wales has represented his country most years since 1982 and has won the European Mixed Championships in 2007 in Madrid, with Andrew Tanner playing 2nd. Ireland's Clare McCormick is their most experienced player with over 50 caps to her name and is a regular in their Senior team.
At the end of the round robin on Thursday, all teams qualified for the play-offs are ranked 1 to 12 in a merged group ranking system. The four group winners advance directly to the quarter-final games. Teams placed second and third in each group will play qualification games on Friday 20 October at 10.00 to determine the last four teams in the play-offs. The quarter-finals will take place on Friday at 18.00. The winners of the quarter-finals will play in the semi-finals on Saturday at 9.30. The medal games will take place on Saturday afternoon at 14.30. Of course, this means that at least one of the Home Nations will not qualify for the latter stages.
Saturday's games are
08.00 - Ireland v Israel (whose curlers probably left Israel before the Hamas attacks), England v Wales, Belgium v Scotland.
16.00 - Scotland v Wales.
Sunday's games are
08.00 - Wales v Belgium.
16.00 - Ireland v Belgium, Scotland v England.
Now, for the extras. Scotland have a habit of younger teams getting international experience in the Mixed competitions. Their Gold Medal in 2017 was won by skip Grant Hardie, who is currently Bruce Mouat's 3rd player. In 2016, skip Cameron Bryce's Bronze Medal team included Bobby Lammie, Mouat's 2nd player. Cameron Bryce also won Silver in Aberdeen in 2019. England have been represented regularly for over 10 years by the Fowler siblings. Andrew Meikle of Wales has represented his country most years since 1982 and has won the European Mixed Championships in 2007 in Madrid, with Andrew Tanner playing 2nd. Ireland's Clare McCormick is their most experienced player with over 50 caps to her name and is a regular in their Senior team.
At the end of the round robin on Thursday, all teams qualified for the play-offs are ranked 1 to 12 in a merged group ranking system. The four group winners advance directly to the quarter-final games. Teams placed second and third in each group will play qualification games on Friday 20 October at 10.00 to determine the last four teams in the play-offs. The quarter-finals will take place on Friday at 18.00. The winners of the quarter-finals will play in the semi-finals on Saturday at 9.30. The medal games will take place on Saturday afternoon at 14.30. Of course, this means that at least one of the Home Nations will not qualify for the latter stages.
Saturday's games are
08.00 - Ireland v Israel (whose curlers probably left Israel before the Hamas attacks), England v Wales, Belgium v Scotland.
16.00 - Scotland v Wales.
Sunday's games are
08.00 - Wales v Belgium.
16.00 - Ireland v Belgium, Scotland v England.
Cabbage is still good for you