City curler Gina Aitken runner-up in Austrian Mixed Doubles Cup
The Scots had won all six matches on their way to the final, and they looked set to make it a perfect seven when they led Canadians Emilie and Robert Desjardins 2-0, 4-2 and 5-3. It all went wrong, though, at the final two ends as the Desjardins counted two stones at both to clinch the victory 7-5.
Meanwhile, Aitken’s former mixed doubles partner, Bruce Mouat, was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Gatineau Challenge in Buckingham, Quebec. The world bronze medallist and his team-mates Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie reached the last eight by thrashing local skip Mark Homan 8-2, but that form deserted them on Sunday when they lost 4-2 to Toronto’s Charley Thomas. They are due to play Norwegian Steffen Walstad at the Canadian Masters Grand Slam tournament in Nova Scotia on Wednesday.