European Curling Championships: Team Paterson wins Scottish play-off as champions Team Mouat bow out

Ross Paterson's rink will represent Scotland at the European Curling Championships after Bruce Mouat's reigning champions lost in a play-off.

Paterson's rink will go forward to November's competition in Sweden, having beaten Glen Muirhead's 2018 Olympic Games rink in Sunday's final.

Mouat's team finished bottom of the specially arranged round-robin event.

"We've beaten Mouat and Muirhead and you have to play at your best to beat these top teams," Paterson said.

"We had to bring our A-game. However, rather than focusing on who we have beaten, what we'll take confidence from is winning the right games at the right time."

Scottish Curling had chosen Eve Muirhead's rink to represent Scotland in the women's event in Helsingborg based on world rankings but decided it could not split the three men's teams then in the world's top 20.

Mouat's European champions only managed one round-robin win, with Team Paterson topping the charts with three wins before winning a nail-biting final.

Having won the opening match against Team Muirhead 7-5 on Saturday, Paterson's rink lost the second 7-3 on Sunday morning before clinching victory 7-5 following an extra end in the decider after the skip scored a double with his final delivery.

"I felt we were the best team here this week with our performances," Paterson said. "Now we're now going to do everything we can to get a medal."

Paterson lined up in the same rink as Muirhead in the last of his three visits to the Euros and he paid tribute to his former team-mate, saying: "Hats off to Glen, he's always an incredibly tough opponent and, in that last final, we had to be patient and come from behind to get that win with the last stone at the extra end."

It will be the first time Paterson has been skip at the finals and will also be looking to medal for the fist time at the event, from 15-23 November, which serves as a qualifier for the 2020 World Curling Championships.