Dumfries and Galloway Winter Olympic curlers make winning return to action

Dumfries and Galloway’s men’s Winter Olympic medallists have made a successful return to action.

Kirkgunzeon’s Grant Hardie and Stranraer duo Hammy McMillan and Bobby Lammie, as well as skip Bruce Mouat, secured back-to-back Players’ Championships in Canada.

And in the process, they became the first British rink to win the Pinty’s Cup, awarded to the team who performs best over the Grand Slam of Curling season.

Team Mouat - who won silver in this year’s Winter Olympics – won the Players’ Championship when it was held in Calgary last year.

Things were rather different in 2022 with the competition returning to Toronto – and the easing of coronavirus restrictions meant their friends and family could be there to cheer them on.

And they certainly had plenty to cheer about as Team Mouat raced into an early 5-0 lead in the final against Team Edin, who had beaten them in the Olympic finals.

And that early lead proved unassailable as they stormed to an 8-3 win, securing back-to-back Players’ Championships and also the Pinty’s Cup thanks to their fourth win in the last five Grand Slam competitions.