curling

Scotland suffered a third successive round-robin loss at the Ford World Women's Championship – they were beaten 7-2 by the United States then 5-4 by Switzerland yesterday– and face a real threat of finishing out of the medal positions with five matches remaining, writes Mike Haggerty in Lethbridge, Canada.

The Swiss made the first break-through in the fifth end when Scotland skip Eve Muirhead's final draw came up short and Switzerland stole a single shot for a 3-1 lead. They stole another single in the sixth, but, in the ninth, Muirhead buried her first stone and then scored 2 from the end to level the game at 4-4. The Scots did not have last stone in the tenth, and their challenges were compounded when lead Claire Hamilton had a stone removed for a hog-line offence. It changed the dynamic in the end, and the Swiss eventually scored the single needed for their win.

Earlier against the USA the Scots women were in trouble from the off. USA blanked the first end and scored 2s in the second and fourth for a 5-0 lead. Muirhead was forced to play a tricky chip-in off one of her own stones to open their account with a shot in the fifth but USA scored 2 in the sixth with a last-stone draw and, when the Scots were forced to draw for just 1 shot in the seventh, they conceded defeat.

Muirhead said: "We've had a lot of pressure on our shoulders coming into here – pressure we didn't need – so we just need to play how we know we can." The Scots face Czech Republic next, with a win ever more imperative.

athletics

Two Scots, Elspeth Curran (Glasgow) and Emily Stewart (Edinburgh), have been named in the Great British team for the World Universities Cross Country Championships in Lodz, Poland, on April 14.

cricket

Carlton, the reigning Scottish National League champions, have signed three new players for their 2012 campaign in the new Eastern Premier Division, writes Gary Heatly.

Umair Mohammad, the 26-year-old all-rounder who has a Scotland A cap, has moved to Grange Loan from Forfarshire. He has been one of the best performers in the national leagues and last year trained with Carlton – he lives in Edinburgh – before playing for the Broughty Ferry side at weekends.

John Hutton, a left-arm seamer, has joined from Drumpellier for whom he took 18 wickets on league duty despite his club being relegated from the top flight last year. He will hope to open the bowling.

Michael Herdman is to arrive from Australia to play as an overseas amateur. He has been playing most recently for Redlands Tigers in Queensland and will aim to follow in the footsteps of last year's Carlton amateur, Jason Trembath from New Zealand, who scored 373 league runs and took 17 wickets in 2011.

The three could make their competitive debuts for Carlton at home to Poloc in the group stages of the Scottish Cup on April 21.

motor racing

Ryan Dalziel, from Airdrie, has set his sights on winning Le Mans after securing victory in the LMP2 class in Sunday's Sebring 12 Hours, writes Kenneth Stephen.

While his fellow Scot Allan McNish claimed the limelight with victory in the LMP1 class, Dalziel made it a Scottish lock-out with the win in LMP2. It was a heroic effort from the Fort Lauderdale-based Starworks outfit, who lead their World Endurance Championship class. Starworks only built the race-winning car nine days ago and the drivers had only minimal race preparation.

Dalziel is convinced his team can push for glory at La Sarthe in June. "We have had podiums in three out of four races so far this year; it just proves how realistic our challenge at Le Mans is going to be," he said. "We started by winning the Sebring 12 Hours and it puts us in the lead in the championship but we have to stay focused. We have a lot of work still to do."

rugby union

Boroughmuir/James Gillespies High Schools composite won the Brewin Dophin Scottish Schools Under-18 Bowl with a 36-14 win over Dunblane's Queen Victoria School in the final at Murrayfield, writes Alan Lorimer. Man of the match Jordan Edmunds scored 19 points with two tries, three conversions and a penalty.

Madras College won the under-16 bowl with a 29-12 win over Hawick High, College's Scotland under-16 squad member, stand-off Jon Price also scoring 19 points with two tries, three conversions and a penalty.

shinty

The effort to get more women playing the sport has been boosted thanks to the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of the Women's Camanachd Association, writes Kenneth Stephen. The seafood company, Marine Harvest, has contributed £10 000 while a further £2000 is coming from sportscotland. Leading figures from the women's game were joined by minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport, Shona Robison MSP, at Holyrood to announce the deal.