Tributes pourinfor pioneerof thesport

Kyle insists he will feel no added pressure when representing Team GB at the Winter Olympics Tributes have been paid to Scotland’s first world curling champion Chuck Hay, who has died at the age of 87.

Chuck’s passion and dedication to the sport, which he first took up in 1954, has played a huge role in shaping the success enjoyed by Scottish and GB teams of recent times.

In what became a meteoric career packed full of triumphs, he won the Perth Open - the former Scottish Championship - five times and a series of other prestigious Fair City events.

He won his first curling tournament – the Farmers’ Trophy – in 1956. And following that victory, Chuck assembled his team of John Bryden, Alan Glen and David Howie.

His Perth-based squad would go on to taste success on both home and international soil, picking up an abundance of friends along the way.

He represented Scotland five times as skip in the World Championship, winning once and coming second three times.

Such was his sporting nature, when he won the Dolly Cup three times in Geneva to receive the trophy outright, he handed it back for continuous competition.

After his playing career came to a close, Chuck threw himself into inspiring the next generation of curlers as national coach.

European and World Championship medals would follow for two of his sons, Mike and David.

Chuck was also a Royal Caledonian Curling Club representative on the World Curling Federation and chief umpire at World Championships.

An MBE came his way for his services to the sport. In 1979, he was awarded the Elmer Freytag Award which led to his induction into the Hall of Fame.

World Curling Federation president, Kate Caithness, said: “On behalf of the World Curling Federation and the curling community in Scotland and the world at large, it is with deep sadness, that I express our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Chuck.

“Chuck was instrumental in the early days of the Scotch Cup and establishing the roots of the international competition our sport enjoys so widely today.”

Away from the ice and farming duties, Chuck was an all-round sportsman and he played rugby for Perthshire from 1948 to 1962.

An uncompromising forward, he played in every position in the pack, gaining district honours in the Midlands team. He was also an accomplished golfer – an R&A member and past captain at The Blairgowrie Golf Club - and squash player.

There will be a celebration of his life at the Dewars Centre on Saturday, August 26 at 11.30am to which all friends are respectfully invited.