[ritchiebaby]

These Championships are run in conjunction with the Mixed Doubles in Stavanger, Norway and are halfway through already with only 1 Home Nation setting the pace.

The women have been divided into two groups as follows:
Group A: Australia, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden and United States
Group B: Denmark, England, Italy, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand, Scotland and Switzerland


ENGLAND - Judith Dixon (Skip), Joan Reed (Third), Helen Forbes (Second), Angela Wilcox (Lead)
Now, I happen to know the ladies in the photograph, and they are from left to right, Angela, Helen, Joan and Judith. The order in the other photographs are quite probably in the wrong order too - AND ARE!

SCOTLAND - Susan Kesley (Skip), Fran Stretton (Third), Vicky Gumley (Second), Morna Aitken (Lead)

The four men’s groups are:
Group A: Australia, Czech Republic, France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Sweden and Turkey
Group B: Canada, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Norway and Russia
Group C: England, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia and Switzerland
Group D: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Wales and United States


ENGLAND - David Tranmer (Skip), Richard Jachnik (Third), Philip Townsend (Second), William Brampton (Lead), Graham Stanley (Alternate)

IRELAND - Bill Gray (Skip), David Whyte (Third), Neil Fyfe (Second), Ross Barr (Lead), Peter Wilson (Alternate)

SCOTLAND - David Smith (Skip), Mike Hay (Third), Peter Smith (Second), Sandy Hay (Lead), Gordon Sneddon (Alternate)

WALES - Adrian Meikle (Skip), Richard Pougher (Third), Andrew Tanner (Second), Gary Waddell (Lead), George Fyffe (Alternate)

Round-robin play starts on Saturday 20 April and continues until Thursday 25 April. After that, in the women’s event, the group winners will go directly to the semi-finals while the teams that finish second in each group will play the third-placed team from the other group to complete the semi-final line-up. In the men’s event, the top teams in each group proceed to the quarter-finals, while the second and third-placed teams in each group go into qualification games, with only the winners proceeding to the quarter-finals. In both women’s and men’s competitions, qualification games and quarter-finals will take place on Friday 26 April, while semi-finals and bronze and gold medal games will be played on Saturday 27 April.

I'll update you all on the results so far later tonight, as I'm off out this afternoon for a meeting.

[ritchiebaby]

With apologies for a long list of results, but here is the up-to-date position.

SATURDAY
Women - Italy 6 England 5, Scotland 10 Japan 5.
Men - Slovakia 3 Ireland 8, Scotland 7 Japan 3, England 2 Slovakia 10.

SUNDAY
Women - Scotland 7 Italy 1, England 11 Japan 1.
Men - Ireland 4 Scotland 5, Wales 3 Latvia 6.

MONDAY
Women - England 4 Scotland 9, Scotland 12 New Zealand 4.
Men - England 4 Switzerland 6, Switzerland 8 Ireland 3, Scotland 11 Slovakia 1.

TUESDAY
Women - Latvia 9 England 6, New Zealand 4 England 12, Latvia 3 Scotland 11.
Men - Wales 10 Belgium 6, Poland 8 England 2, Japan 6 Ireland 4, Finland 6 Wales 4.

WEDNESDAY
Women - Switzerland 7 England 4, Scotland 4 Denmark 6.

In the Women's Group B, Denmark have already qualified on 6 wins out of 6,with Scotland and Switzerland also qualified on 5 wins. England are in equal 4th on 2 wins alongside Italy and Latvia, but are unable to qualify for the later stages. In Group A, Canada have 6 wins to guarantee qualification, with USA 2nd and Sweden 3rd, both being favourites to go through.

For the Men, Group C has Scotland in 2nd place on 3 wins out of 3, behind Switzerland, who have 5 wins out of 5. Ireland are in 4th on 1 win, while England have yet to win any of their 3 games and are at the bottom of the table. Unlikely as it may seem, both Ireland and England have a slim chance of making 3rd place to qualify for the later stages. In Group D, Wales have 1 win from 3 and have a slightly better chance of progression, as they sit in 4th equal position with Finland, only 1 win behind Latvia and USA. The only guaranteed qualifiers so far are Norway, Switzerland and Denmark.

Ireland Men are currently playing England next door to the Scotland v Poland game. Later tonight England play Scotland and these 3 games will most certainly decide the fate of 2 of the Home Nations.

[ritchiebaby]

The first of the local derbies in the Men's Championships produced a runaway victory for Ireland over England by 11 shots to 1. On the next sheet of ice, Scotland overcame a stubborn Poland by 6-3 to advance their chances of progression. In the second of the local derbies, Scotland beat England 7-4 in a competitive game to secure their and England's fate. In Group D, Wales defeated table-topping Denmark 4-3 in a game that went right down to the last stone and brings Wales back into contention.

Ireland play Poland in the first session tomorrow morning in a game which will decide if Ireland can sneak a qualification place. Wales play USA at lunchtime in a bid for their own qualification. Scotland are up against Switzerland in the final session in a game to decide who finishes top of their group, with both teams already through. England meet Japan in a meaningless game at the foot of the table with only pride at stake.

With only 1 game to go in the Women's Championships, Scotland take on Switzerland with both teams already qualified and England are up against leaders Denmark.

[ritchiebaby]

There was a good finish from both Scotland and England in the round robin games in the Women's Championships today. Firstly Scotland beat Switzerland 7-5 to finish on 6 wins. Then England went out on a high, demolishing previously unbeaten Denmark by 9 shots to 3.

Denmark led the table on 6 wins with Scotland in 2nd place. Switzerland finished 3rd on 5 wins. England were 4th on 3 wins. In the other Group Canada were first with 7 wins, followed by Sweden on 6 wins and USA on 5 wins. Canada and Denmark go directly to the Semi-finals with Sweden playing Switzerland in the first Qualifying Game with Scotland playing USA in the other.

Ireland finished a disappointing Men's Championships with a 4-7 loss to Poland, losing 5 shots in the 7th end to seal their fate - so near, yet so far. Wales, on the other hand, did their bit, beating USA 7-3 after winning the last 4 ends to clinch a qualifying place at Latvia's expense. Scotland defeated Switzerland 7-3 to finish their round robin games unbeaten, but unfortunately England went down 3-6 to Japan to finish their tourrnament without a victory.

Group winners Sweden, Canada, Scotland and Denmark go directly to the evening Quarter-finals with the lunchtime Qualifying Games being Switzerland v Poland, USA v Germany, Norway v New Zealand and Wales v Australia.

[ritchiebaby]

In today's Women's Qualification Games, Switzerland comfortably saw off Sweden by 11-2, with Scotland seeing off USA by 5-1. In a very tight game, Scotland scored in the opening 3 ends with single shots to set up a controlled finish, giving nothing away.

Tomorrow morning's Semi-finals are Switzerland v Denmark and Scotland v Canada.

The Men's Qualification Games resulted in Switzerland 8 Poland 3, USA 12 Germany 6, Norway 8 New Zealand 2 and Wales 2 Australia 9. Wales were always struggling in this game and conceded in the second last end. In the afternoon Quarter-finals, Scotland beat Norway by 9-7 after a frenetic high-scoring middle section, Canada beat Australia 7-2 in a more leisurely manner, Switzerland beat Sweden 5-2 in a tight game and Denmark beat USA 6-4.

The Men's Semi-finals are played at the same time as the Women's and are Switzerland v Scotland and Denmark v Canada, the same 4 teams as the Women's.

Both the Women's and Men's Medal Games are played tomorrow afternoon.

[ritchiebaby]

The Seniors Championships drew to a conclusion today and it was a familiar conclusion with Canada winning both, repeating last years' successes.

The Women's Semi-finals ended with Denmark sweeping past Switzerland by 9 shots to 2, losing only 1 end in the process. Canada beat Scotland in the other one, mainly helped by a score of 4 shots in the 6th end to make life much easier in the last end.

In the Final, Canada repeated the dose against Denmark, winning by 10-1 to claim the Gold Medal. Switzerland won the Bronze Medal game against Scotland, outscoring the Scots by 8-3.

For the Men's Semi-finalists, Scotland beat Switzerland 6-1, also losing only 1 end, repeating the Swiss capitulation in the Women's game. Canada eventually eased through against Denmark by 7 shots to 4, after being 3-4 down with 2 ends to go.

Once again Canada struck Gold, albeit with an extra end win by 7-5 against Scotland, and Denmark held on to their early lead to beat Switzerland 7-4 and win Bronze.


CANADA RETAIN THEIR TROPHIES