CURLING

SCOTLAND'S national junior curling champions travel to Japan this week with high hopes of winning medals in the World Junior Championships.

The championships, which get underway tomorrow, are being staged in Karuizawa, and it will be the third successive world championship outing for Scotland's women's skip, Julia Ewart, who will be anxious to go one better than the silver medal she gained in Canada last year. She starts her programme against France, and follows that up with a game against Sweden on Sunday.

Scotland's men's skip, Ricky Tasker of Forfar, opens his campaign for a unique Scottish hat-trick against Sweden before going on to Sunday's game against Norway.