Bruce Mouat hails '˜insane' European victory over world champion

Murrayfield's Bruce Mouat has hailed his Scotland team-mates for 'digging deep' in a stunning victory over Swedish world champion Niklas Edin in Saturday's European Championship final in Tallinn.

Scotland's Hammy McMillan, left, Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, and Bobby Lammie celebrate their victory over Sweden. Picture: Raul Mee/AP

Edin was chasing a record fifth European title in a row and had won all ten matches in Estonia, but Mouat and his team-mates Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie recovered from 4-2 down at the halfway stage to win 9-5.

Last season featured six titles, a historic first Grand Slam victory in Canada and a world bronze medal in Las Vegas, while Mouat had previously taken gold at the World Junior Championships and World Student Games, but Saturday’s success topped the lot.

Joining the celebrations were unused fifth player Ross Whyte plus coaches Alan Hannah and David Murdoch, Scotland’s last European men’s champion back in 2008.

“It’s pretty insane,” admitted 24-year-old Mouat. “We wanted to come here and perform at our best and we said we wanted to win a medal. We knew we wanted gold but you never want to jinx it.

“We worked hard all week and had a bit of a blip against Russia but, apart from that, we’ve been solid and I’m really proud of the guys for playing so well and digging in deep for that final.

“The Swedes are world-class and when Niklas made that angled run back and then a perfect back-line tap to get a two at the fourth end, we knew he was there to play and we really had to step up our game. As soon as we came back from the fifth end break we really started to get control, started to see cracks appear in his game plan and we started to believe we could win. It’s a massive testament to me and the guys for keeping our heads and not panicking.

“Being two-down at the break is not the greatest position to be in, but coming out and fighting is what we were there to do and we did.

“We were ahead going to the last end, but we were in that position against them on Wednesday and they got us that time, so it was nice to get them back for that.

“I probably realised we had won when Edin’s last shot was halfway between the house and the hog. It was probably a bit soon to start celebrating, but you know when you know. It was a great feeling and all of us were buzzing. I’m just really proud to bring the gold medal back to Scotland.”