TOP TOURNEYS
Hamilton Ice Rink is a hotbed of competition
Lanarkshire Ice Rink in Hamilton has hosted some top curling tournaments in recent months.
Four competitions – the Strathcona Cup contest between Scotland and Canada, the Douglas Park BMW Bonnspiel, Henderson Bishop Trophy finals and Tunnock’s Wheelchair Curling tournament – all took place between January and March.
In January, 40 Canadian curlers visited Scotland, with 20 going up north and the other 20 visiting Hamilton, where they played three games for the trophy.
The event was hosted by Lanarkshire Province Curling Club, and Canada took the prize this year.
Douglas Park BMW Hamilton held their 32nd annual curling challenge on February 15.
The popular tournament was attended by 48 customers and guests in teams of four, who competed in games of five ends.
Stewart Anderson, Hugh Nelson, Don Frame and Robert Kirkland claimed victory and lifted the winning trophy at this year’s event, defeating Robert Smillie, Christine Smillie, Jack Robertson and Margaret Robertson in the final.
Finals of the Henderson Bishop Trophy then took place from Monday to Thursday, February 26 to March 1.
Twenty teams of four players tussled it out, with Lanarkshire represented in two teams, with Margaret Richardson, Marion Craig, Alison Taylor and Audrey king, and a second team of Margaret Moffat, Morag Sandilands, Shirley Mathieson and Vera Anderson.
The competition was won by the Ayr team of Margaret Agnew, Gail Thomson, Alison Cunningham and Anne Anderson, who defeated Aberdeen’s Rhiann Mcleod, Kim Brewster, Lorna Smith and Claire Perras. Stranraer’s Kate Adams, Christine Cannon, Katie Wright and Louise Kerr won the Cherrystone Trophy, beating a Dumfries side of Claire Sloan, Gillian Graham, Caroline Donaldson and Gweneth Graham in the final.
Organiser Fiona Motion, president of the ladies’ section at Lanarkshire Ice Rink, said: “Although heavy snow caused different problems, such as people having to leave early, the competition went very well, and was a fantastic competition over four years. It went down very well.”
The competition featured a civic reception at Low Parks Museum on the Monday, a buffet meal and fun night on the Tuesday, and a meal at the Avonbridge Hotel on the Wednesday.
Wheelchair curlers from Newcastle made the trip north a successful one as they won the major trophies in the 2018 Tunnock’s Wheelchair Curling tournament.
Over three days, nine teams battled it out for the prestigious Tunnock’s Trophy, with the Northern Ice 2 team edging out Northern Ice 1 to claim the silverware.
In third place was Team Lockerbie 2, with Team Stirling just missing out, in fourth place.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Tunnock’s Bonnspiel, a special presentation was made to South Lanarkshire Wheelchair Curling Club chairman Brian Douglas – coincidentally on his 70th birthday!
Anybody interested in curling should contact Lanarkshire Ice Rink at www. trycurling.com or call 01698 282448.