Both the men’s and women’s defending champion skips head into this week’s Scottish Curling Championships at the Dumfries Ice Bowl (Feb 6-11) knowing they will have to be at their very best to hold onto their titles.
In the women’s event, Rebecca Morrison will skip the same line-up that claimed victory a year ago, accompanied by Gina Aitken, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson. 
They go into the Scottish Championships having won their first major international medal earlier this season which has ensured that they will start the week with the added pressure of being favourites.
“Going in as European bronze medallists puts a bit of a target on our back and people are going to want to beat us, but it gives us a lot of confidence as well, because we’ve achieved that,” she observed.
Back to full strength after Jackson recovered from the bout of illness that forced her to miss last month’s Bernese Ladies Cup, they believe they have prepared well.
“We’ve had a great week of training since coming back from Switzerland and things are really shaping up well for the week ahead,” said Morrison.
“It’s going to be stiff competition out there. There are several Scottish teams we’ve come up against this season and we’ve had tight games throughout, so it’s going to be a tough contest this year.”
A combination of the venue and the event itself are contributing to the sense of occasion as they look to build on what they have achieved since this time last year.
“We’re so excited to be heading to Dumfries this week for the Scottish Championships and there are a lot of good memories for us after winning the event last year,” said Morrison.
“It would mean so much for us to replicate what we did last year and come away with the title again.
“The Scottish Championships are always one of the highlights of the season and one of the reasons it is so great and means so much for us is that you can have all your family and friends and support networks come and watch you since it’s so close to home.”
Having led his team to the title a year ago, Kyle Waddell is also looking forward to returning to the arena venue which he reckons “makes it feel more like a Championships,” and he expects the event to be “even better than last year.” 
“The strength of field is very strong,” he said.
“I’m not sure if it’s the toughest Scottish Championship field I’ve ever played in, but it’s certainly got a lot of very good teams in it, with Bruce Mouat’s being one of the top teams in the world in the last couple of years, Ross Whyte’s had a bit of success, while Cameron Bryce and James Craik’s teams have also had some success this year.
“You’ve also got the junior teams who are very strong at that level. I’ve worked with one of them and played against a couple of them this season and they’ll take a couple of scalps this week, so we’ll have to play well to beat any of the teams this week, but I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
Unlike Team Morrison, however, his line-up has had a major overhaul since claiming last year’s title with Waddell and younger brother Craig joined by Mark Taylor and Gavin Barr since the departures of Ross Paterson and Duncan Menzies.
“It doesn’t really feel like I’m defending a title, purely because 50 per cent of the team is different and we had Rossco throwing last stones a year ago,” he said.
“But at the same time, every year I play the Scottish I want to win it. It means a lot to me, it’s a special event, so I’m just looking forward to the challenge and if we were to win it this year it would be just as special as it was last year, so that is the goal at the end of the week.
“The history associated with the Scottish Championships is what makes it that extra bit special and different to regular tour events that you play in season.
“Looking back at some of the names that have won this event, including players I looked up to when I was coming through the junior ranks, as well as being attached to some of the history with my grandpa winning the event also contributes to that.
“Even though the Scottish has changed dramatically in the past two years, with the winners no longer directly earning the right to represent their country at the Worlds, last year we saw with the guys on the ice and what it meant to the two teams in the final, it clearly still means a lot and I think that is down to the history.
“Everybody playing in the event this week wants their name on that trophy again, or for the first time and the history has a large part to play in that.” 
In that men’s event there is another line-up heading into the competition having won it last time they took part, because Team Mouat were unable to do so last season having been in Beijing winning a silver medal for Team GB immediately ahead of the National Championships.
“Going after our fourth title in as many attempts is pretty special,” said skip Bruce Mouat.
“The last three times we’ve competed in the Scottish Championships have all been great experiences, so we’re hoping to replicate that this time around.”
Having also reached the final of the World Championships on their last appearance in that event, the team that reached No.1 in the world rankings last year and has consistently maintained a place in the top three since then, is looking for a victory that would strengthen their prospects of a return to that event.
“We are aiming to hopefully get back to a World Championship,” said Mouat.
“The 2021 event was a great experience for all of us when we learned a lot and got to compete in our first World final, so it’s definitely a driving motivation for us to get there and hopefully win that World title.”
They know how hard it will be to claim another title, however, given the strength in depth that has been developed with Teams Whyte and Bryce both having won World Curling Tour events this season, while James Craik has added the World University Games title to the World Junior Championships victory he claimed last season. 
“The strength of field this year is very high. We’ve seen the likes of James Craik have a very successful season, Ross Whyte’s won a couple of times on tour as has Cameron Bryce, so there are a lot of good Scottish teams out there and we’re going to have to play well to beat them all. It just shows you how talented Scottish curling is right now,” Mouat observed.
And like Waddell, he believes that the venue will add to the sense of occasion.
“The Scottish has so much history behind it, it’s always like the main event of the year for all the Scottish teams and being in an arena now, it makes it that bit more special,” he said.
“It’s very exciting to be playing in Dumfries in an arena-like situation and it will be our first time there.
“We have close ties to Dumfries with Grant coming from there that adds to the excitement for him and us to be competing there this week.
“It’s a very historic trophy that so many amazing curlers have won.”
Scottish Curling will be live streaming games from every draw of the round robin championships which will be available from Recast on the Dumfries Curling Channel: https://share.recast.tv/u/6BBAd?referrer=6BBAd
Please click here for Scottish Curing's draw and live results.
Images: WCF/Ansis Ventins, PPA-Graeme Hart, Anil Mungal & Wataru Yamagishi
