25 November 2023
Scotland men defend their European title in Aberdeen
Defending champions Scotland faced current Olympic champions Sweden in Saturday afternoon’s men’s gold medal final of the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2023 in Curl Aberdeen, Scotland.
This match-up was a re-run of the Olympic final in Beijing 2022.
In the first end, Scotland scored two points when their skip Bruce Mouat played a soft tap-up.
In the second, Swedish skip Niklas Edin played a nose-hit for two to level the game at 2-2.
In the third end, Scotland’s Mouat had to draw inside two Swedish stones sitting in the house, to score one and take a 3-2 lead.
Sweden’s Edin was facing three Scottish stones in the house when he delivered his final draw of the fourth end. He just managed to out-count them all to score one and level the game at 3-3.
The fifth end was blanked, and, in the sixth, Scotland’s Mouat was forced to draw for one to re-take the lead at 4-3 lead.
The Scots tried to build something in the seventh end, but they were frustrated by a series of double take-outs by Sweden, leaving Edin with a straightforward hit-and-roll out to blank the end.
In the eighth, the Scots were more successful in building the end, and Sweden’s Edin faced three Scottish counters when he came to play his last stone. He drew it onto the button to score one point and tie the game at 4-4.
In the ninth end, Scotland’s Mouat had a complete miss with his first stone and this error left him with no option but to play a nose hit-and-stay for one point and a 5-4 lead.
The Scots were lying shot at the back of the button when Sweden’s Edin came to play his last stone of the tenth end, but the Swedes managed to get inside it, scored one, tied the game again at 5-5 and forced an extra end.
The Scots, with last-stone advantage, controlled the extra end and eventually, Mouat had an open draw to score one, win by 6-5 and successfully defend their title.
After the game, Mouat said, “European champion? Sounds wonderful. I’m over the moon. Starting with hammer and keeping our noses in front made the difference, I think. This one is extra special because it’s in Scotland. Just having family and friends here who don’t normally get to see me curl live. So yes, it’s a wee bit emotional, but absolutely buzzing.”
Sweden’s skip Edin said, “That was a hard-fought game. We struggled all week, so I was happy that we made the final here. But we had too many mistakes in the fourth and the tenth, otherwise I think we could have won.”
The gold medal winning Scottish team are: skip Bruce Mouat, third player Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie and lead Hammy McMillan, supported by alternate Kyle Waddell and coach Michael Goodfellow.
The silver medal winning Swedish team are: skip Niklas Edin, third player Oskar Eriksson, second Rasmus Wranaa and lead Christoffer Sundgren, supported by alternate Daniel Magnusson and coach Alexander Lindstroem.
In the fifth-end break of the final, former President of the World Curling Federation Kate Caithness CBE was inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame and received the World Curling Freytag Award. Read about the induction here.
Engage with the World Curling Federation about the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2023 on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook and by searching the hashtags #curling and #ECC
