With his team running out of time as their Swiss opponents maximised the pressure in the final end, Bruce Mouat delivered two breathtaking shots in Ostersund today to clinch a third title in three visits to the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships.
In a match of extreme intensity and quality, the Scots had held the upper hand for most of the afternoon after Switzerland’s Team Schwaller had started with the hammer, a score of two at the fourth end which put them 2-1 ahead, having shifted the advantage in favour of Mouat’s men. 
The momentum looked to shift at the ninth end, however, after Scottish vice skip Grant Hardie had produced an extraordinary triple takeout to earn what looked like an opportunity to score the two that would have put his side in control, a fortuitous shot from Switzerland’s Benoit Schwartz made life difficult for Mouat and he was slightly heavy with his final stone, conceding the steal.
Mouat was then faced with even tougher propositions at the final end with a Swiss stone on the button heavily guarded.
His first delivery saw him raise a Swiss guard onto his own stone to remove that shot stone and lie two, only for Schwartz to respond well and get another bit of luck as his effort was deflected into a near perfect spot at the back of the button, again well protected.
With the shot clock down to 14 seconds as he pushed off from the hack, Mouat calmly repeated the dose, however, with the perfect amount of control to remove it and claim the two that won the match.
The skip was naturally ecstatic with that outcome, but noted that Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan had all produced the shots they needed to bring this triumph about throughout the competition.
“There’s been some amazing pressured shots throughout the event and in that game especially Grant’s amazing shot at the ninth end to give us a really good opportunity was great and obviously the last two at the 10th end to secure the win means a lot,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever made two better shots in the 10th end to win a Championship, so I’m very excited.”
The 5-4 win in the final maintained a perfect record at an event they won on their debut in 2018, had to wait three years to go back to, then won again a year ago.
“Being three out of three means a lot to us. There’s not a lot of skips that will be able to show that record,” Mouat observed.
For a team that dominated the prestigious Canadian Grand Slam circuit last season, becoming the first Scots to win The Pinty’s Cup for topping the rankings in those events, it had been important to reassert their authority because they had endured a difficult start to their 2022/23 campaign, partly because of a broken hand suffered by Lammie. 
“It’s been an interesting season for us, with Bobby’s injury early on and we’re just glad that we’ve pushed on and got the win that this season’s been building up to,” Mouat noted.
Both Scottish teams had gone into the Euros defending titles for the first time ever, but it was a new-look women’s line-up and they also finished on a high at their major championship debut together, winning a bronze medal match to ensure that the post event function was another great night for the entire Scottish party.
“We’re going to enjoy a wee celebration tonight and celebrate with the girls on their amazing bronze medal,” said Mouat.
“We’re incredibly proud of what they did this week and it’s been another good week for Scotland.”
It was also a new experience for two member’s of Team Mouat’s support team, with new coach Micheal Goodfellow, the 2014 Sochi Olympic silver medal winner joining them at a major championship for the first time as well as Kyle Waddell, who is the skip of the current Scottish champions and made the trip as their alternate.
“I’m very proud of Kyle and Mikey, how they’ve both fitted into the team and worked really hard to help us achieve our goal and I can’t thank them enough,” said Mouat.
Responding to that, Goodfellow made it clear that he had revelled in the experience of working with them saying: “It’s been an amazing experience this week with these guys and one I’ll definitely remember.
“They’ve been great to work with, shown a huge amount of professionalism throughout and were incredibly clinical throughout in the big moments. 
“It’s full deserved after all the hard work they’ve put in this season.”
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 10-7
Saturday 26 November
Women gold medal game – Switzerland v Denmark 4-8
Men gold medal game - Scotland v Switzerland 5-4 GOLD MEDAL
Photos courtesy of our magnificent coaches!
