Mouat sends early message

Bruce Mouat got the defence of his National Grand Slam title off to a winning start, while fellow Scot Eve Muirhead also posted an opening victory at Conception Bay South in Newfoundland, writes Lorin Mcdougall.

Edinburgh’s Mouat and his team became the first Scotsmen to win a Grand Slam tournament in Ontario last winter, and the recently-crowned European champions sent a warning to their title rivals by beating Switzerland’s Olympic bronze medallist Peter De Cruz 6-3 in Pool B. They play Glasgow’s Ross Paterson today.

Muirhead and her rink beat Toronto’s Jacqueline Harrison but had to endure a nail-biting finish after allowing a 6-1 lead at the halfway stage to become 6-5, before blanking the last end. They meet Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson next in Group C.