Fresh from their latest Grand Slam victory, Scotland’s Team Mouat will set out to maintain their 100 per cent record at the Le Gruyere AOP European Championships as the event gets underway in Finland this weekend (16 – 23 November).
The world number one ranked team has made a magnificent start to the 2024/25 season, last week’s successful defence of their Canadian Open title having extended their record for a non-Canadian team to eight Grand Slam victories, following up on their triumph at The Hearing Life Tour Challenge the previous month.
Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan, who once again have British Curling colleague Kyle Waddell as their alternate at a major championship, are consequently looking to replicate both that form and their performances at the four previous Euros they have contested, which saw them take the title on their debut in 2018 and again in each of the past three seasons.
“We’re looking forward to playing in another European Championships,” said skip Mouat.
“We have had a lot of fun at the recent ones we have played in and we are looking forward to hopefully defending our title again.
“The boys and I are in a really good place. We have been playing some really good curling and are looking forward to getting out there and starting to compete.”
Their schedule has been challenging since this event is squeezed between two Grand Slams in Canada with the Kioti National in Newfoundland taking place immediately after this trip to Lohja.
However, they know that their likeliest title rivals, Sweden’s seven-time champions Team Edin, Italy’s former world number one ranked Team Retornaz and Switzerland’s Team Schwaller, are facing similar challenges and they feel they are managing things effectively.
“We managed to have a bit of a celebration to toast our recent Slam win,” said Mouat.
“We went out for dinner afterwards and managed to catch up with some of the other teams and the people that run the Slams, so we had a really nice night and it was good not having to rush off since on Monday we had until 5pm before getting our flight back.
“It didn’t feel like some of the other Slams where we have had to rush off after the final and jump into a taxi to go straight to the airport, so it was nice to actually sit down and enjoy ourselves that night.
“There are quite a lot of teams that were at the Slams that are now like us heading to the Europeans, so we are not alone in that and some of the top teams are in the same boat as us.
“I am sure we all have similar flights into Finland soon and we will not be alone in feeling a bit tired.
“The competition does not start until Saturday, though and the practice is on Friday so I am sure by that stage we will be fully recovered and looking forward to getting on the ice and seeing what Lohja has to offer.
“Straight after the Euros we head back out to a Slam, but we have put quite a lot of things in place to help with these scenarios. 
“It feels like it is all coming together and we have had these discussions in order to perform well, so we are not too nervous about that.”
While a fifth title win is their main target, Mouat is also aware that national interests must be protected in what is a crucial season that will see the World Championships provide the last chance to earn pre-qualifying points at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“The Europeans is so important to us and for Scotland securing that spot at the Worlds and obviously that leads to Olympic points,” he said.
“It is going to be a really tough event, because there are a lot of strong teams coming out of Europe that have done well on the World Curling Tour and not just the teams you would normally associate with doing well on Tour.
“We have seen the Czech boys win the Swiss Cup Basel which is a really tough event to win, so they have obviously done really well and the Germans are doing well this season and the Norwegians made the tier two Slam final.
“Italy, the Swiss and the Swedes as well as ourselves were all at the recent Slam so we don’t expect to have it all our way and we are going to have to play well to get that crucial spot for Scotland at the World Championships.
“It’s good to have that competition at the Europeans, though and it proves that we have got some of the best teams in the world coming out of Europe now.”
It is a similar story in the women’s event where the opponents facing Scotland’s Team Morrison include Switzerland’s four-time world champions Team Tirinzoni, Sweden’s 2018 Olympic champions Team Hasselborg and an Italian line-up skipped by reigning Olympic mixed doubles champion Stefania Constantini. 
Three members of the Scottish line-up, Rebecca Morrison, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson won bronze medals together on their debut at the Euros two years ago and with current Olympic champion Jen Dodds now well established in their line-up, while last year’s World Junior Championship winning skip Fay Henderson making the trip as their alternate, they are confident of competing for the title.
“This is a great opportunity for us to not only gain Scotland qualification for the World Championships in March but also we are looking to go out there and win so it’s really exciting,” said Morrison.
“The team has been on great form recently as we won our last event together (the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic in Nova Scotia), so knowing we have the ability to go out and win as a team has given us a great boost ahead of Euros and we have been putting in lots of hard work in training since July.
“It’s also nice to be going somewhere a bit different for this Euros as it makes the event feel a bit more special and out of the ordinary for us and we also have several supporters coming which is great.”
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Watch LIVE streaming here.
The following 7 round robin games will be live streamed on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport Scotland website (plus play-off games subject to Scotland qualifying). 
Watch on BBC iPlayer.
Watch on BBC Sport Scotland website.
Sat, 16 Nov
17:30 (UK )
Sco v Den (Women)
Sun, 17 Nov
12:00 (UK)
Sco v Sui (Women)
Mon 18 Nov
10:00 (UK)
Sco v Sui (Men)
Tues, 19 Nov
12:00 (UK)
Sco v Ita (men)
Tues, 19 Nov
17:00 (UK)
Ltu v Sco (Women)
Wed 20 Nov
12:00
Sco v Ita (women)
Thurs, 21 Nov
12:00
Swe v Sco (men)
Scotland Schedule:
Saturday 16 November
Session 1 – women – 07.00
Scotland – Sweden
Session 1 – men – 12.30
Scotland – Netherlands
Session 2 – women – 17.30
Scotland - Denmark
Sunday 17 November
Session 2 – men 07.00
Scotland – Norway
Session 3 – women – 12.00
Scotland - Switzerland
Session 3 – men 17.00
Scotland – England
Monday 18 November
Session 4 – women – 06.00
Scotland - Turkiye
Session 4 – men 10.00
Scotland – Switzerland
Session 5 – women – 14.00
Scotland - Hungary
Session 5 – men 1800
Scotland – Austria
Tuesday 19 November
Session 6 – women – 07.00
Scotland – Estonia
Session 6 – men – 12.00
Scotland – Italy
Session 7 – women – 17.00
Scotland - Lithuania
Wednesday 20 November
Session 7 – men – 07.00
Scotland – Germany
Session 8 – women – 12.00
Scotland – Italy
Session 8 – men – 17.00
Scotland – Czechia
Thursday 21 November
Session 9 – women – 07.00
Scotland - Norway
Session 9 – men – 12.00
Scotland – Sweden
Semi Finals – women – 17.00
Friday 22 November
Semi Finals – men – 07.00
Bronze medal game – women – 12.00
Bronze medal game – men – 17.00
Saturday 23 November
Gold medal game – women – 08.00
Gold medal game – men – 13.00
Team Scotland Men
Bruce Mouat
Grant Hardie
Bobby Lammie
Hammy McMillan
Kyle Waddell (alternate)
Team Scotland Women
Rebecca Morrison
Jen Dodds
Sophie Sinclair
Sophie Jackson
Fay Henderson (alternate)
Images: World Curling
