Scotland make strong start to Curling European Championships as men and women record two wins each

The 2022 European Curling Championships got underway in Sweden on Friday with some dramatic ends and unexpected upsets.

Scotland, who are reigning champions in both the men’s and women’s game, currently sit undefeated after two days of competition.

The women – consisting of an almost completely changed team from their 2021 outing – started their title defence with a comeback win over Turkey on Friday before sweeping to a 7-4 victory over Latvia.

Sweden, who were runners-up in the 2021 event, saw defeats to Denmark and Switzerland in their opening games.

Denmark grabbed three points in the fifth and ninth end to claim a 10-6 victory while Switzerland saw a comfortable 10-4 win.

Germany, who won bronze last year, flew through their opening games, grabbing an incredible 12-1 victory over Hungary.

It was a flurry of extra ends in the opening round of the men’s game.

The battle between Spain and Turkey went to an extra end with both teams tied for five points, but a clever strategy by Turkey saw them pip the Spanish to the post, with an extra point for the win.

Reigning champions Scotland also saw over-time in their first game, with an extra end against Germany swinging in their favour to make it 6-4.

Scotland later went on to beat Spain 10-4 in a dominating eight end game, as Italy and Sweden got locked in a dramatic 8-7 tussle that saw the former come out on top.