July 17, 2007

European Seniors Invitation postponed to next year

The inaugural European Seniors Invitation event at Greenacres, planned for October 10-13, has run into problems with an overcrowded domestic calendar and a clash of dates with a major Royal Club event, the Scottish Mixed Seniors at Pitlochry. The event has been postponed.

ECF President Malcolm Richardson, one of the organisers, has written to the twelve teams who have entered so far, and made the following statement:

"We are sorry to announce the postponement of the European Senior Invitation Curling Championship scheduled for Greenacres Curling Club, Scotland in October 2007. The reason for the postponement from 2007 till 2008 is due to a clash of dates in Scotland and for this reason at least, no alternative date being available. We apologise to those teams and countries who had indicated support for the event and will announce the details and scheduled dates of the 2008 event in the first half of 2008."

The event promised to be a test event for possible European Senior Championships down the line.

Greenacres has successfully hosted the Scottish Senior Championships for a number of years, and in 2005 was the venue for the World Senior Championships. An excellent set of photos from the World Seniors at Greenacres can be found on the Finnish Curling Association website here. Legacy funding from that event and the associated Women's World Championship at the Lagoon Centre, Paisley, is in place to underwrite some of the costs of staging the European Seniors Invitation for the first time.


And talking of Finland and seniors, Vierumäki will host the World Senior Curling Championships in 2008. The Sport Institute of Finland is Finland's leading training centre for top level sports and the official training and coaching centre of Finnish olympic sports. The complex, which has two ice pads, is an educational centre for sports and exercise, coaching and recreational services. The World Seniors website is now live, and has a five minute video about the venue.

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