European Curling Championship: Bruce Mouat's Scotland start with 5-3 win over Norway

Scotland's men eased to a comfortable 5-3 win

Scotland got off to a fine start to the defence of their men's European Curling Championship crown with a 5-3 victory over Norway in front of a home crowd.

Bruce Mouat's rink never looked flustered against Magnus Ramsfjell's team in their round-robin opener.

But there was a mixed start for Rebecca Morrison's Scotland women.

The day began with a comfortable 8-4 win over Dilsat Yildiz's Turkish side, but they were then edged out 11-9 by Madeleine Dupont's Danes.

• Home defence special for Mouat

Having been 4-2 up, Morrison's rink never recovered after Denmark scored five at the fourth end.

Mouat, though, was delighted to start his side's bid for a fourth European title in front of a partisan crowd.

"We obviously had a wee bit of knowledge coming into the event with playing in Aberdeen quite a lot, so it was nice to feel that home environment with some fans in the stands making some noise," he said.

"Things you don't necessarily think of come into play being here. We've stayed in the hotel we're in before and eaten in restaurants we know are around the area, so that extra knowledge all helps make you feel at home."

Mouat's current world champions next face Niklas Edin's former champions from Sweden on Sunday (09:00 GMT live on the BBC Sport website, app & iPlayer).

They later take on Lukas Klima's Czech Republic, who surprised Edin's side 7-6 in their opener.

Morrison's Scotland women next take on Italy on Sunday (14:00, also live on the BBC Sport website, app & iPlayer), with Stefania Constantini's rink having beaten Turkey 10-4 after opening with an 11-8 loss to Germany.

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