First win ahead of Canada forWatt

Auchterarder curler Mark Watt is celebrating a first win on the men’s senior tour after a sweet dose of Swiss success with Team Craik.

Watt, alongside skip James Craik, Angus Bryce and Blair Haswell, claimed the title at the Grand Prix Bern Inter Curling Championships.

They defeated compatriots Team Waddell in the semifinals to set-up a showdown match against a team led by Germany’s Benny Kapp.

The final would prove to be a hard-fought battle, with the Germans leading most of the way after stealing a two at the opening end.

But having trailed by two shots at three different stages, Watt and his in-form teammates drew level with a two at the sixth end.

They then forced their opponents at the next before scoring a two at the last to claim the lead for the first time and secure a special 7-6 win.

“We’ve had an awesome week with strong performances from the start, right up until the final, which was a really great game against our friends Team Kapp from Germany,” said skip Craik.

“We’re really excited to finally get over the hurdle and win our first men’s tour title, get a little bit of cash and more importantly the ranking points to try to help push towards the December Slam now which is our new target.

“We’ve been around the ball park a couple of times, but this was our first final and then our first win, so we like the success rate there.”

Watt is now with Team Craik at the Kioti National in Canada, which started on Tuesday this week and runs until Sunday.

Also competing i are Perth’s Robin Brydone and Duncan McFadean with Team Whyte.