Curling: Title holders make good starts in Perth

Published on 12/02/2013 01:56

Both Perth’s Eve Muirhead and Aberdeen’s Tom Brewster started the defence of their Scottish titles with victories in yesterday’s opening sessions of 
round-robin play in the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Men’s Championship in Perth, writes Mike Haggerty.

Both Perth’s Eve Muirhead and Aberdeen’s Tom Brewster started the defence of their Scottish titles with victories in yesterday’s opening sessions of round-robin play in the Co-operative Funeralcare Scottish Men’s Championship in Perth, writes Mike Haggerty.

Former double world champion David Murdoch has joined the Brewster team this season, and he was skipping, with Brewster playing third. In their game against Ross McCleary of Kinross, they scored three in the first end and controlled the game thereafter to win 8-4.

Muirhead had a straightforward 11-1 win over Lauren Baxter from Greenacres in just six ends. It took one end more for former champion Jackie Lockhart from Aberdeen to beat Murrayfield’s Gina Aitken 9-3, while Jennifer Martin from Greenacres defeated Stranraer’s Gail Munro 8-4.

The only opening women’s game to go all the way to the tenth end saw Lockerbie’s world and Scottish junior champion Hannah Fleming beat Murrayfield’s Kerry Barr 10-9.

In other men’s matches, Stirling’s Logan Gray beat Stranraer’s Hammy McMillan 6-5; Aberdeen’s David Edwards beat Neil Joss from Greenacres 8-5; Perth’s Warwick Smith beat Grant Hardie from Dumfries 6-5; and Glen Muirhead from Perth beat current Scottish junior champion Kyle Smith, also from Perth, 5-3.