European Curling Championships 2021 - How to watch the big test for Scotland's 'iceman' Bruce Mouat
Europe's top competition will provide the Scottish skip ample opportunity to challenge himself against the best of the rest in Lillehammer, Norway.
Curling
After last year’s cancellation, the European Curling Championships are back and with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games just around the corner the heat is on the continent’s top teams.
Scotland’s Bruce Mouat will be hunting the cherry that will top what has already been an exceptional 2021 for the 27-year-old.
In addition to taking silver at the men’s world championships in April, the skip also clinched gold at the mixed doubles world championships and claimed a footnote in the annals of curling history by winning three consecutive Grand Slam of Curling titles.
The Scot and his team of Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, and Hammy McMillan Jr. will all be certified 'ones to watch' in Lillehammer as the move closer to competing for Great Britain at the Olympics in February.
As well as prized momentum heading into the Games at stake, qualification spots for the 2022 World Curling Championships will also be on the cards, meaning there's all to curl for at the 46th edition of the event.
To find out which teams are in action and how to watch, read on.
Countries in action at the 2021 European Curling Championships
Scotland’s Team Mouat will be one of ten teams competing in the men’s A-Division. The other countries in the mix are:
- Czech Republic (Skip: Lukas Klima, Third: Marek Cernovsky , Second: Jiri Candra, Lead: Samuel Mokris, Alternate: Radek Bohac)
- Denmark (Skip: Mikkel Krause, Third: Mads Nørgard, Second: Henik Holtermann, Lead: Kasper Wiksten, Alternate: Tobias Thune)
- Finland (Skip: Kalle Kiiskinen, Third: Teemu Salo, Second: Leo Ouni, Lead: Paavo Kuosmanen, Alternate: Jermu Pollanen)
- Germany (Skip: Sixten Totzek, Third: Marc Muskatewitz, Second: Joshua Sutor, Lead: Dominik Greindl, Alternate: Magnus Sutor)
- Italy (Skip: Joel Retornaz, Third: Amos Mosaner, Second: Sebastiano Arman, Lead: Simone Gonin, Alternate: Mattia Giovanella)
- Netherlands (Skip: Jaap van Dorp, Fourth: Wouter Gosgens, Second: Laurens Hoekman, Lead: Carlo)
- Norway (Skip: Steffen Walstad, Third: Torger Nergard, Second: Markus Hølberg, Lead: Magnus Vagberg, Alternate: Magnus Nedregotten)
- Sweden (Skip: Niklas Edin, Third: Oskar Eriksson, Second: Rasmus Wrana, Lead: Christoffer Sundgren, Alternate: Daniel Magnusson)
- Switzerland (Skip: Peter de Cruz, Fourth: Benoit Schwarz , Third: Sven Michel, Lead: Valentin Tanner, Alternate: Pablo Lachat)
Storylines at the men’s 2021 European Curling Championships
The task before Mouat and his men will not be easy.
Two-time Olympic medallist Niklas Edin, for one, will present a significant challenge. With seven European golds already, and the title of current world champions, Edin and team have an impressive pedigree when it comes to battling it out on the big stages.
Throw into the mix the fact that the Swedes defeated Team Mouat in April of this year to take gold at the world championships, when these sides meet don’t discount the fact it might be personal.
Also in attendance are Norway.
They come to this year’s edition with a different skip – Yannick Schwaller led them to silver back in 2019 – but the man now in charge, Peter De Cruz, is no less a threat. The 31-year-old was part of the team that broke Canadian hearts at PyeongChang 2018 after they took the bronze and sent Team Koe home without any silverware.
Schedule: European Curling Championships 2021
Round-robin play will begin on Saturday November 20 and will run until Thursday November 25.
The women’s semi-finals will then take place on the evening of November 25 with the men’s semi-final penned for the next day, Friday November 26.
For the semi-finals the teams that finish on top after the round-robin portion of the tournament will play the fourth-ranked teams, while the second and third finishers will face off against each other.
The women’s bronze medal match will be held on Friday November 26 with the men’s bronze, women’s gold and men’s gold matches all taking place on Saturday November 27.
How to watch Bruce Mouat in action at European Curling Championships 2021
World Curling TV will be producing a total of 30 games from the European Curling Championships as well as streaming the event with platform Recast.
The following games featuring Bruce Mouat will be available to watch:
- Saturday November 20 - Scotland v Sweden (14:00)
- Thursday November 25 – Scotland v Norway (12:00)
(All times are Central European Time (CET) which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT) +1 hour and Eastern Standard Time (EST) + 6 hours.)
All play-off games will also be broadcast with the broadcasters for these games yet to be decided.
For more information about broadcasting schedule and where you can watch each game check out the World Curling Federation site, here.