Scotland beat Switzerland to retain European curling title
Bruce Mouat scored two fantastic finishing shots as Scotland’s men retained their European title in a thrilling final with Switzerland.
Scotland trailed 4-3 after a misjudgment in the ninth end and won 5-4 in Östersund, Sweden.
It is the third European crown for Mouat, who becomes the first Scottish skip to retain the title since 2008.
“Playing two shots like that in the 10th end is very special,” Mouat told Eurosport. “This one means a lot.”
Mouat and teammates Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan, who won silver medals at the February Olympics, lost just once in the round robin, losing 7-2 to Yannick Schwaller’s Swiss rink.
But they kept a cool head on death to retaliate when it really counted.
“It was a calm panic if there is such a thing,” the Skip added. “You play a lot of games with situations like that and you get used to it.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride, probably not our best European performance but to win after a couple of poor games feels great.”
The final was a chilling affair, going 2-2 after five ends and 3-3 after eight ends before springing to life in the final two.