Scotland’s Team Morrison achieved the rare feat of winning a medal at their first major championships when they eased past Italy 9-5 to win the bronze medal match at the Le Gruyere European Championships in Ostersund.
It was an impressive performance from start to finish by the young Scottish quartet of Rebecca Morrison, Gina Aitken, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson as they seized control of the match with a steal of three at the opening end, then ran away in the second half against a team that had beaten them and finished above them in the round-robin stages.
“I could hardly believe it when we got off to such a great start,” said skip Rebecca Morrison.
“We had two stones in the four foot and really piled the pressure onto the Italian skip to force that mistake out of her in the first end, so that was ideal.” 
Italy’s Team Constantini had rallied from that poor start by levelling the match at 4-4 by the midway break, asking questions of the temperament of the Scots, but as they had demonstrated in beating vaunted opponents including the host nation’s 2018 Olympic champions Team Hasselborg and in coming back from difficult positions throughout the week, they showed they had the necessary composure.
“At half-time we were all square, so we were back to the start again, but we just had to tell ourselves that we were really playing well out there and just keep it up,” said Morrison.
“I think everyone kept their cool really well. No one got ahead of themselves, no one got nervous, we all just committed to every shot out there.
“We’ve come back from deficits several times this week, so it just shows how much resilience we have within our team to come back after difficult situations and fight back.”
That was also in evidence in the way they had recovered from a heavy defeat in their semi-final to top seeds Denmark the previous evening. 
“After yesterday’s disappointment we just have to tell ourselves that our goal this week at our first Europeans was to medal and we weren’t out of reach of that yet, so while it was a tough loss, going into today we knew that was still well within our reach,” Morrison explained.
That achievement could not be underestimated as they picked up the baton following a slew of retirements from the sport after Team GB’s Olympic success earlier this year, all four members of this bronze medal winning team having been part of the same innovative squad system that brought the very best out of Team Muirhead.
With Team Mouat guaranteed a medal as they prepare for their bid to win three gold medals in three visits to the event when they meet Switzerland in the men’s final, it also served to further demonstrate the quality of the system that has been put in place at British Curling since the bold decision by sportscotland and Stirling Council to fund the creation of the National Curling Academy five years ago and is developing strength in depth. 
“Considering this is our first championship together, it means we could have such a bright future together ahead of us and we look to just go onwards and upwards from this point,” said Morrison.
“Over the next cycle we’d love to make it to as many of these championships as we can and just get these opportunities over and over again to build ourselves as a team.”
Euro action continues tomorrow for Scotland’s men as they look to defend their title when they take on Switzerland in the gold medal game after the Swiss quartet beat hosts Sweden 6-3 in the second semi final earlier today. That match will be shown live on the Recast broadcasting platform at 12 midday(GMT).
The European Championships qualify teams for next year’s World Curling Championships with the women’s event (LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023) also taking place in Sweden in March (18-26 March) and the men’s event (BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championship) in Ottawa in April (1-9 April).
Men’s teams: Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain (replacing Russia), Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
Women’s teams: Denmark, Germany, Hungary (replacing Russia), Italy, Latvia, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
Team Mouat
Bruce Mouat
Grant Hardie
BobbyLammie
Hammy McMillan
Kyle Waddell (alternate)
Coach: Michael Goodfellow
Team Morrison
Rebecca Morrison
Gina Aitken
Sophie Sinclair
Sophie Jackson
Hailey Duff (alternate)
Coach: Nancy Smith
WCF European Champs
Schedule & Results: 
After Round robin:
Team Mouat 8W1L
Team Morrison 5W4L
Friday 18 November
Women – session 1
Scotland v Turkiye 9-6
Saturday 19 November
Men – session 1
Scotland v Germany 6-4 (EE)
Women – session 2
Scotland v Latvia 7-4
Men - session 2
Scotland v Spain 10-4
Sunday 20 November
Women – session 3
Scotland v Italy 4-10
Men – session 3
Scotland v Sweden 8-7
Women – session 4
Scotland v Denmark 6-11
Monday 21 November
Men – session 4
Scotland v Czech Republic 11-6
Women – session 5
Scotland v Sweden 7-5
Men – session 5
Scotland v Turkiye 10-4
Women – session 6
Scotland v Germany 3-9
Tuesday 22 November
Men session 6
Scotland v Denmark 7-4
Women session 7
Scotland v Switzerland 3-9
Men session 7 - Qualified
Scotland v Norway 8-1
Wednesday 23 November 
Women session 8
Scotland v Hungary 10-1
Men session 8
Scotland v Switzerland 2-7
Women session 9 - Qualified
Scotland v Norway 8-6
Thursday 24 November
Men session 9
Scotland v Italy 7-5
Women semi final 1 –Italy v Switzerland 5-9
Women semi final 2 – Scotland v Denmark 3-11
Men semi final 1- Scotland v Italy 7-4
Friday 25 November
Men semi final 2 – Switzerland v Sweden 6-3
Women bronze medal game – Scotland v Italy 9-5 BRONZE MEDAL
Men bronze medal game – Italy v Sweden 19.00/18.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Saturday 26 November
Women gold medal game – Switzerland v Denmark 09.00/08.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Men gold medal game - Scotland v Switzerland 13.00/12.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Images: WCF / Ansis Ventins & Celine Stucki
