2026 Winter Olympics: Bruce Mowatt’s rink beats Sweden
Mowatt has beaten Niklas Edin in eight of their last 10 meetings, and the Swede has been unable to upset that rising trend in the Dolomites in northern Italy.
It continued the Scot’s recovery from mixed doubles medal disappointment, and leaves the Swedes – who lost their opener to the hosts and face another medal contender in Canada next – in a precarious position.
“All four of us were shooting well,” Mowat told BBC Sport. “We haven’t trained together for a month, so getting back and flowing to where we want it to be is excellent.”
These two rinks are arguably the best rinks in the competition, and the Canadians, Italians and Swiss are also likely in the medal conversation, and this was a quality competition.
However, Mowat, Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammy and Grant Hardie won the hammer – the right to finally bowl and, in theory, control the game – and it was dictated from now on.
Eden failed to execute a high-profile double takedown in the first end, allowing Mowat to claim two points and establish a lead that Circuit GB would maintain throughout.
The disappearance became the subject of the celebrated Swedish jumper, with the 40-year-old repeatedly failing to ask the questions posed by Mowat. As a result, the British team took a 4-1 lead midway through the first half, then took the advantage 6-2 with three goals remaining.
Sweden needed something big, but could only find something small. They were limited to one out in the eighth and Eden decided he’d had enough, pitching his hand to Mowatt and ending this contest with a two-run lead.
“Everyone keeps reminding us that they beat us in Beijing, so we had that motivation,” Hardy told BBC Sport. “They had the day off and we took advantage of that.”
