Mouat set for title defence in Canada

Bruce Mouat and his team made history last winter as the first Scotsmen to land a Grand Slam title when they won The National in Ontario, Canada.

Mouat, from Edinburgh, along with Hammy Mcmillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie, begin this year’s event in Newfoundland against Switzerland’s Olympic bronze medallist Peter De Cruz. They beat De Cruz on their way to European gold in Tallinn a fortnight ago but there were signs of fatigue last week when they lost three matches out of six at the World Cup in Omaha.

Glasgow’s Ross Paterson and his rink have also been drawn in Pool B after reaching last month’s Penticton Classic final in British Columbia. They play two matches today against another Swiss, Yannick Schwaller, and Canadian Brad Gushue. The Scots go head-to-head tomorrow.

Eve Muirhead represents Scotland in the women’s competition, and the former world and European champion looks to be getting back to her best following hip surgery in May. The Perth skip and her team beat Olympic gold medallist Anna Hasselborg and eventual winner Satsuki Fujisawa at last week’s World Cup, and they open their Pool C campaign today against Toronto’s Jacqueline Harrison.