Ice Hockey: Capital curlers in Euro tilt

Capital curlers Annie Laird and Ross Hepburn hope to "lead" their teams to the European Championships at this weekend's Euro Playdowns in Perth.

The winning men's and ladies rinks will represent Scotland in Champery, Switzerland in December, and Laird will once again deliver the opening stones for Eve Muirhead's outstanding Perth squad. Having gone to the Olympics as an alternate, Laird was called up for the World Championships following an injury to Jackie Lockhart and returned from Canada with a silver medal.

And in Hamilton, Edinburgh curlers Colin Campbell, Andrew Barr, John Hamilton and Struan Macnee are in the qualifiers for the spring's Scottish Championships.