Team Morrison led newly promoted Latvia from start to finish as they claimed a second win in the second match of their defence of Scotland’s title at the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships in Ostersund.
Starting with the hammer Rebecca Morrison, Gina Aitken, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson were forced to settle for a single at the opening end, but a steal of two at the second shifted the momentum decisively their way.
“It did feel like a very controlled game for us from about end two,” said skip Morrison.
“That steal of two in the second end put us on the front foot for the whole game. From there we just made sure we put rocks in good spots, top tee, good positions and just made sure we didn’t slacken off.
“It had the potential to be quite a close game had we not got ahead early on, but that start left us feeling very comfortable, which was great.” 
Having been put under pressure in their opening encounter, falling 5-2 behind Turkey after four ends before turning things around to claim an impressive 9-6 win, she was pleased that they have shown their capacity to win in different ways from the very start of the season.
“It’s good to demonstrate that we know how to defend a lead and can come back from being down, so it’s great to have had that mixture of games in our first two outings,” said Morrison.
“That really puts us in good stead for the week and gets us practising various different things.”
She knows, however, that the intensity is set to step up as they go into a two match third day of competition.
“Tomorrow we play Italy and Denmark and it’s a big day for us, because two wins would put us in a great position on the table and set us up really well for the rest of the week,” said Morrison.
“Both of those teams are doing well on the World Tour this season, so it’s going to be a tough day for us, but we’re as ready as we’ll ever be for it and we just want to get some more good wins out there.”
Earlier on day two Scotland’s men had begun their title defence with a hard fought extra end win over Germany.
While they were never headed, Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan were unable to pull clear at any stage as forces were exchanged throughout.
However they finally registered a two at the extra end to complete a 6-4 victory and they now go on to meet Spain in their second match later today.
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:
Friday 18 November
Women – session 1
Scotland v Turkey 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 19.00/18.00 GMT
Scotland v Spain
Sunday 20 November
Women – session 3 – 09.00/08.00 GMT
Scotland v Italy
Men – session 3 – 14.00/13.00 GMT
Scotland v Sweden (broadcast game)*
Women – session 4 – 19.00/18.00 GMT
Scotland v Denmark
Monday 21 November
Men – session 4 – 08.00/07.00 GMT
Scotland v Czech Republic
Women – session 5 – 12.00/11.00 GMT
Scotland v Sweden
Men – session 5 -16.00/15.00 GMT
Scotland v Turkey
Women – session 6 – 20.00/19.00 GMT
Scotland v Germany
Tuesday 22 November
Men session 6 – 09.00/08.00 GMT
Scotland v Denmark
Women session 7 – 14.00/13.00 GMT
Scotland v Switzerland (broadcast game)*
Men session 7 – 19.00/18.00 GMT
Scotland v Norway
Wednesday 23 November
Women session 8 – 09.00/08.00 GMT
Scotland v Hungary
Men session 8 – 14.00/13.00 GMT
Scotland v Switzerland (broadcast game)*
Women session 9 – 19.00/18.00 GMT
Scotland v Norway
Thursday 24 November
Men session 9 – 08.00/07.00 GMT
Scotland v Italy
Women semi final 1 – 12.00/11.00 GMT (broadcast game)*
Women semi final 2 – 16.00/15.00 GMT (broadcast game)*
Men semi final 1- 20.00/19.00 GMT (broadcast game)*
Friday 25 November
Men semi final 2 – 09.00/08.00 GMT (broadcast game)*
Women bronze medal game – 14.00/13.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Men bronze medal game – 19.00/18.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Saturday 26 November
Women gold medal game 09.00/08.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Men gold medal game 13.00/12.00 GMT(broadcast game)*
Images: WCF / Ansis Ventins & Celine Stucki
