THE SIDELINES : Scots Gain Finals in Curling

Scotland, home of curling, advanced today to the finals of both the men’s and women’s divisions at the World Curling Championships.

David Smith, skip of the Scottish men’s rink from Perth, beat Sweden 5-3 in the first men’s semifinal. Scotland’s victory avenged a 3-1 loss to the Swedes in round-robin play. Sweden, skipped by championship rookie Lars-Ake Nordstrom, and Scotland both had 7-2 won-lost records in the round-robin portion.

Carolyn Hutchison’s foursome from Glasgow easily beat Helena Blach of Denmark 8-3 to gain the women’s final against the winner of the Canada-Norway semifinal. Bev Behnke’s U.S. women’s rink from Denver defeated France 8-5 in a tiebreaker for eighth place in the 10-team tournament. The United States thus qualified for the 1991 world championship.