New-look Scottish rinks eye European curling medals - watch live on BBC

Published54 minutes ago

A glance at the make-up of the Scotland teams going to this week's European Curling Championship tells a story.

This time last year, the Scottish women took silver and the men bronze. Yet only three of the 10 curlers who comprised those rinks will be involved in Ostrava over the next six days.

So it says something about the strength of curling in Scotland that all of those who travelled to the Czech city on Monday did so with medals in mind.

Fay Henderson and Grant Hardie were among those who competed in Finland a year ago. The former as the alternate - or non-playing member - of the women's team and Hardie as deputy to Bruce Mouat in the men's quartet.

Now, both have ascended to the skip role and lead new teams, both of which earned their place at the event by winning the Scottish Championships earlier this year in the immediate aftermath of the Winter Olympics.

European Curling Championships

Ostrava, Czech Republic

27 October - 1 November

Watch selected games live on the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app

Hardie ended that event on the podium in tears after a second consecutive silver medal. Three months later, he announced he would leave Team Mouat after nine glorious years and become skip of what was Team (Ross) Whyte.

Already ranked in the world's top five, they go into these Euros with one aim in mind. "I think it's quite clear for us we want to go there and win it," Hardie told BBC Sport Scotland. "We'll be going in as a top-ranked team but it's a really strong field."

While no longer a qualifier for the Worlds, the chance to lay down a marker at the beginning of the Olympics cycle is one Hardie and his team are eager to take.

And the feeling is similar for Henderson and her rink. While she stops short of saying gold is the target, a podium place is in her sights.

"I've never actually played a game at the Europeans before but have two medals [silver and bronze], which is a bit of a strange feeling," Henderson says. "But I'd love to complete the set.

"But, really, we want to show the top teams that we're definitely a force to be reckoned with."

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Curling

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