Kelso in the Scottish Borders is the venue for the ECA Mixed Doubles and Inter-Club Championships this weekend.

Mixed doubles is a new discipline being introduced by the WCF this year in the hope of getting it into the 2014 Winter Olympics. The first World Championships will be held in Finland in March and the winners of this weekend’s competition will have earned the right to represent England at those Championships.

Eight teams have entered and all are stepping into the unknown as nobody has played this new format before. Teams are one man and one woman and there are only 6 stones per team, but one of those stones from each team is positioned on the ice before the start of the end - one just behind the button and one halfway between the hog line and the front of the house. Of the two players in the team, one throws the first and last and the other throws the three middle ones! And players can choose to change which does which from end to end.

The eight entries are:

James and Joan Dixon (Glendale)

Nicola Woodward and Chris Smith (Glendale)

John Brown (London) and Glynnice Lauder (Glendale)

Alison Hemmings and Nigel Patrick (SECC)

Keith Wilson and Sara Jahodova (SECC)

Jane Clark and Steve Amann (SECC)

James Gibb and Susan Young (London)

Jim Marmont and Sandra Moorcroft (SECC)

The winners of the Inter Club competition will be asked to send a team to the RCCC Province Championships in November. Two teams from each of 4 clubs (Glendale, Preston, London and POL) will participate and the winning club will be decided by adding the two teams’ records together.

Results will appear here after the weekend.

Glendale Curling Club won the English Inter Club Championship on their home ice at Kelso when their 2 teams went undefeated through the weekend winning all 6 games. Preston were runners up winning 3 games while SECC won 2 and London won 1.

In the individual Trophies Glendale won the Ice Palace Shield from Preston by 13-10 and the Hinds Bowl from London by 18-8. London regained the Hugh Robinson Trophy after a number of years by defeating Preston by 18-11.

Results Inter Club Results

Glendale now go on to the RCCC Province Championship to represent England at Greenacres on the 16-18 November.

The first ECA Mixed Doubles Championship was won by John Brown of London and Glynnice Lauder of Glendale when they won a close final against Jane Clark and Steve Amann of the SECC. Brown / Lauder were undefeated in the group stages while Clark / Amann qualified with two wins as a result of winning 1 more end than Joan and James Dixon of Glendale and 2 more ends than Keith Wilson and Sara Jahodova of SECC.

The first competition for this new discipline was well received and it produced some exciting ends of play with many stones clustered around the button. The final was tied up at 5-5 all after 6 ends before Brown / Lauder took a 2 in the 7th and a stolen 1 in the 8th. Steve Amann had a very difficult raise attempt for his last stone all the way from the hog line to the shot but narrowly missed.

Results Mixed Doubles Results

The winners now go on to represent England at the World Mixed Doubles in Finland in March 2008 when Glynnice Lauder will also be playing in the World Seniors. John Brown could be joining her in doubling up if his team win the Englsh Seniors title to be decided at Murrayfield on 9-11 November.

Entries have opened for the English National Championships for Men and Women and the English Mixed Championships (for teams of 2 men and two women playing alternately).

THE CLOSING DATE FOR BOTH CHAMPIONSHIPS IS NOVEMBER 30th 2007.

There is an entry fee of £160 for the National Championships but no entry fee for the mixed.

Please note that entries for the Mixed will be considered as provisional in so far as the winners of the National Championships will be able to withdraw from any team they have entered in the Mixed Championships should they want to. However the closing date for entries remains as 30 November and no new entries will be allowed after that date.

The National Championships will take place at Fenton’s Rink in Kent between January 31st and February 3rd 2008 and the  Mixed Championship at Fenton’s Rink between February 29th and March 2nd 2008.

The winners of the Nationals will go to the European Championships at Ornskoldsvijk in Sweden in December 2008.

The European Mixed Championships will take place at Kitzbuhel in Austria in September 2008.

Entry forms are available below or from the ECA Convenor, Phil Barton at pb@starleyhall.co.uk or 01383 860125 or from your club secretary:

National Championships Entry Form

Mixed Championship Entry Form

Eligibility Rules have changed slightly since last year - new version is

ECA Eligibility Rules