 When Grant Hardie (Photo: PPA/Graeme Hart) made the trip from Scotland's southwest to its northeast in the spring of 2017, little did he know that he was embarking on a journey that would transform his curling career. The then 24-year-old, who was leading a part-time team that operated outside the support of the British Curling programme, was testing his skills against some of the best skips in the global game, including Canada's multiple Grand Slam winner Mike McEwen, up-and-coming Swiss Yannick Schwaller, the USA's Olympic champion of the following year John Shuster, and Scotland's own two-time World Champion David Murdoch. Hardie, Blair Fraser, Dave Reid, and Duncan Menzies's battle to the title, beating McEwen and Shuster along the way, consequently persuaded him to commit fully to the sport. He has never looked back, so it's little wonder that he always looks forward to returning to the event, which takes place at Curl Aberdeen this weekend (March 14-16). "The Aberdeen International always brings back good memories," said Hardie. "When I first won it in 2017, I wasn't playing a full schedule as I focused on finishing University, but our team had a great week, surprising some of the top names in the sport. "Thinking back, it was that win that really gave me the belief and confidence to pursue a career in curling as we created this formation of Team Mouat following that season." Hardie and younger cousin Hammy McMillan subsequently made the first move towards forming a quartet that has gone on to take the Scottish and British game to a new level. "Hammy missed out on selection for the 2018 Olympics, so gave me a call, which led to us meeting up to discuss options," Hardie explained. "Bobby (Lammie) and Bruce (Mouat) were the obvious two players who shared the same ambitions, and we went from there." From the outset, it was an extraordinary combination. Just weeks into their first season together, they became the first Scots to win a tournament in the toughest environment of all: Canada's Grand Slam tour. Since then, they have gone on to become World Champions, win the first four European Championships they played in, contest an Olympic final and win eight more Grand Slam titles, including the first three of this season, on their way to establishing one of the most dominant leads ever at the top of the world rankings. All of that has come from setting challenging standards for themselves from the outset, and they continue to do that to this day. "That first season surpassed all our expectations with our first slam win and some great tour wins including defending the Aberdeen title for myself," Hardie recalls. "Everything seemed to just click in that first year, and now into our eighth year, we are having to work even harder on the small details that go into a successful team. "It's great to see those small details we have focused on this year have paid off with one of our best seasons to date." This weekend's event, where they will once again defend their title, is their last competitive opportunity to hone the work they have been doing to prepare for their bid to convert their ranking status into a second world title as they prepare for this season's World Championships in Canada. "As our last competitive outing before the worlds, Aberdeen provides a good opportunity to fine-tune what we have been working on the past month," said Hardie. "It's a strong field this week, and I think it's also important psychologically to head out to Moose Jaw off the back of some good performances and hopefully another Aberdeen International title." As well as a strong domestic line-up which includes Team Whyte, who beat them in the Scottish Championship final this season, there is another strong international line-up heading to Aberdeen, including Germany's Team Muskatewitz, who inflicted Team Mouat's other major disappointment of the season when they beat them in the European Championship final, the first time they have failed to win that event. In the opening draw, Mouat, Hardie, Lammie and McMillan start their title defence against fellow Scots Team Craik, winners of the recent Sun City Cup in Sweden. Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Duncan McFadzean, and Euan Kyle also set out in that first tranche of games against Japan's Team Maeda. British Curling colleagues Team Waddell, who reached the semi-finals at the Sun City Cup, face Italy's Team Colli. Three-time Scottish Junior champions Team Carson take on China's Team Xu. Muskatewitz's men, who were also semi-finalists at the Sun City Cup, began their campaign in the second round of matches against a Perth quartet that featured 2018 Team GB Olympians Glen and Thomas Muirhead. |
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Team Brad Jacobs (Photo: World Curling) win Canada's first gold medal in men's curling since 2014.
