An Ice-cold battle of the sexes ended honours even at a Tayside curling rink at the weekend.
The Scottish men’s and women’s curling teams were at Ice World in Forfar on Saturday for four ends of roaring action.
Led by Courier columnist Eve Muirhead, the ladies slid into an early lead, only for the men, including Forfar curler Greg Drummond, to draw level in the closing stages.
The match was staged as a warm-up to the evening’s Dancing on Ice Extravaganza which saw performances from the ITV show’s Mark Hanretty, three times UK figure skating champion Matt Parr and former UK men’s champion Jason Thomson, who lives in nearby Kingsmuir.
Around 250 spectators packed into the venue for the event organised by Ice World Skating Club.
Mike Ferguson, manging director of Forfar Indoor Sports, said the crowd had witnessed two curling teams likely to represent the UK at next year’s Winter Olympics in Russia.
He added: “Curling has an opportunity to be one of the medal sports at the Olympics next year and the standard we witnessed was tremendous.”
Despite the relaxed nature of the occasion, it was very much game on when the first stone went down the ice.
“Curling is a sport where men and women can compete at a true level and that is the great thing about it,” Mr Ferguson said.
A spectacular display of singles and partner skating followed the curling action, with young members of the centre’s Learn to Skate programme also taking to the ice.
For guests with a VIP ticket, the evening was rounded off with a cabaret performance from singer Jason Porter.