Former World Champions Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat have claimed their second title of the season together after going unbeaten through the event at the star-studded Gothenburg Mixed Doubles Cup.
The trip to Sweden was their third international event of the season and their third appearance in a final, having won the title in Gstaad in October, before reaching the final in Bern a few days later where they lost to compatriots and British Curling teammates Rebecca Morrison and Bobby Lammie.
This time around they were the only Scots to reach the quarter-finals where they were too strong for Switzerland’s former World Champions Jenny Perret and Martin Rios, beating them 7-1, before they got the better of another powerful Swiss combination of Alina Paetz and Sven Michel 6-3 in the semi-finals.
That set up a clash with Estonia’s world number one ranked Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill who had also gone through the event unbeaten to that point and it was a hard fought battle with Dodds and Mouat crucially stealing at the third end and maintaining that advantage until the last where another steal of three wrapped up an 8-4 win. 
“Obviously overall it was a very successful trip, so we’re very happy to come away with the win and a great way to end 2024,” said Dodds.
“We felt that we built game by game and we didn’t have any practice, so in our first game our objective was figuring out the ice as quick as possible, then continuing to take that information into every game and even into the final and I felt that we did that really well.”
Having been the only pairing to represent Team GB in mixed doubles at a Winter Olympics, just missing out on a medal in Beijing three years ago when they finished fourth after going into the event as reigning World Champions, they are eager to return to the sport’s biggest stage together, but know there is strong domestic competition.
“We have had a really successful season apart from the Scottish when I was pretty ill, but a lot of the teams have done well at the international competitions, with Bobby (Lammie) and Rebecca (Morrison) winning in Bern as well,” said Dodds.
“So I think whoever represents Scotland at the World Mixed Doubles they have had a really tough test and I think the selection committee is going to have some really good teams to choose from.”
For Mouat this latest triumph was his seventh of the season, having also skipped his men’s team to five wins in an extraordinary first half of the 2024/25 season and he believes that he and Dodds are back to top form as a partnership.
“We were disappointed last season that we didn’t play too well when we played mixed doubles, so we knew that this was going to be a big season for us and we wanted to step up and play international events again,” he said.
“Playing against some really strong opposition in Scotland definitely benefitted our abilities when we came out to the three events across Europe and we’ve had a really good time playing in all three.
“We went to the Worlds in 2023 as well and we were disappointed not to come away with a medal there as I think we felt that we were playing well and I think we are in a good spot now, so if we are the team that is selected then we can go to the World Championships and hopefully secure Team GB that spot for the Olympics, but we will just have to wait and see if we are given that opportunity or not.”
Either way, his principal aim is to maintain the form shown so far this season as, along with Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan, he prepares for another trip to Canada where they have already enjoyed exceptional success this season, winning all three Grand Slam events to date.
“We have performed extremely well in a lot of the tough events we have played in, so to continue that on into 2025 is something we will focus on and it fills us with a lot of confidence that we are playing well and looking forward to two really good events in January that will hopefully see us continue that good play.”
Home curling fans can meanwhile look forward to seeing Dodds in action with her teammates Rebecca Morrison, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson in Perth later this week and the gold medallist in the women’s event at the 2022 Winter Olympics is also aiming to perform in both disciplines at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
“We are back on ice pretty quickly after the New Year with a team event at the Perth Masters on January 3 and I’m looking forward to us getting back together as we haven’t competed since the Europeans (where they won bronze in November), so it will be good to compete on home soil as a team again,” she said.
“Both Bruce and I, in terms of team and mixed doubles, want to continue what we have been doing and just keep working hard and building on the season we have had so far.”
Sophie Jackson /Duncan McFadzean
Jen Dodds / Bruce Mouat
Rebecca Morrison /Bobby Lammie
Fay Henderson /Grant Hardie
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Image: Team GB/David Pearce
