Scotland’s men and women curlers both struck gold in Lillehammer on Saturday, November 27.
Bruce Mouat and Eve Muirhead led their rinks to European glory winning the men’s and women’s Le Gruyere AOL European Curling Championships.
Both rinks defeated Sweden in the final.
The women’s team of Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff and alternate Mili Smith defeated Anna Hasselborg’s rink 7-4.
While the men’s rink of Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, Hammy McMillan and alternate Ross Whyte triumphed against Niklas Edin’s rink 8-5 in the gold medal game.
The men’s final was in Scotland’s hands early on, following a score of one in the third end, they scored back-to-back steals of two.
Taking a 6-2 lead into the fifth end break, Mouat’s rink never lost control and won in straightforward fashion.
The women’s final started much tighter, with the scores just 3-2 in favour of Muirhead at the break. However, following two well called blank ends, scores of two in the eighth and tenth secured victory.
After her third victory at the event, having previously won the title in 2011 and 2017, Muirhead said: “It’s been a roller-coaster, but it’s shown that all the work we’ve done has worked.
I’m so proud of Hailey — first Europeans, first international ladies’ event and Mili as well — first Europeans. For these girls, this is really special, and I’d like to think that they’re going to go on to even better things.
I’ve already got two European titles under my belt and having a third is amazing, but for these guys, it’s always so nice to get your first.”
Following an unbeaten week for the men, finishing 9-0 in the round-robin, Mouat said after victory:
“What a week we’ve had. I’m just really proud of everyone who’s put in all the work. I’m going to enjoy this one.”
Former World Champion, and current Scottish Curling coach David Murdoch had this to say on Twitter:
Both rinks, who are based in Stirling, will look to medal again at the World Curling Championships in spring.
Gold Medal Scores
Women
| End | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
| SCO | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| SWE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
Men
| End | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
| SCO | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 |
| SWE | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 5 |
Feature Image Credit: WCF, Céline Stucki
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