Scotland's curlers strike gold at European Championships

Murrayfield curler Bruce Mouat and his Scotland team are European champions after ending Niklas Edin's long unbeaten run at these championships by pulling off a stunning 9-5 win over the Sweden in the men's final in Tallinn.

Scotland's European champions. From left: Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan, Ross Whyte and team coach Allan Hannah. Picture: Raul Mee/AP

din, the world champion, was chasing a record fifth European title in a row and had won all ten games in Estonia this week, but Mouat and his colleagues – Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie – had pushed him to the limit in their round robin meeting on Wednesday before losing 9-8 at the final end.

The Scots looked set for further disappointment yesterday when they trailed 4-2 at the halfway point, but twos at the sixth and eighth ends put them 6-5 ahead and this time they were determined to finish the job.

A three at the final end clinched a famous 9-5 victory as Mouat and company – world bronze medallists last season – scored the biggest win of their career. The stats told a story, with the Scottish team averaging 89 per cent in the final, while the Swedes managed only 75 per cent as they crumbled under pressure.

“It’s unbelievable,” Mouat said. “I’m really proud of the guys – they played so well today. You can’t expect to get anything easy against that team and we knew we were going to have to fight for it today. We really dug in at 4-2 down and tried to stay calm, but the nerves were definitely there! It’s been a good season so far and this is just the cherry on top.”

Edin’s defeat denied Sweden a golden double after Olympic champion Anna Hasselborg edged out Swiss skip Silvana Tirinzoni 5-4 yesterday to lift the women’s title, won last year by Perth’s Eve Muirhead.