Scotland seal maiden world mixed doubles curling crown

Canada had led the contest after the first end, but a triple take-out from Scotland two ends later saw the initiative change once again with a steal of two points.

Another steal saw the lead extended to 4-1, but a super double removal from Canada led to a dramatic comeback, hauling themselves back to 5-5.

And in the extra end, it was Grant Hardie who held his nerve, removing two opposition stones to give Scotland three points and the World Mixed Curling Championships title.

"It's brilliant. I don’t know where to start," said skip Hardie.

"The whole team played brilliant all week and especially the during the play-offs they came to the fore. I'm absolutely delighted. They came at us really hard at the end.

"They're obviously a great team to get to the final and we just managed to hold on. I'd thrown that line, four or five times in the game, so I was pretty confident but obviously with it being for the win you’re always a little on edge.

This performance followed up Scotland’s bronze-medal display from last year, while the Czech Republic were celebrating that honour this year after overcoming Norway 7-6 in one of the most dramatic comebacks in the competition.

After a blanked first end, Norway opened the scoring with two points in the second end, stealing points throughout to go 5-0 up.

Czech Republic's fightback began immediately with a score of two points in the fifth end then a further two points in the seventh end to close the gap to two points.

In the final end, Czech Republic loaded the house with stones, and after a few missed raise take-out attempts by Norway, stole three points for the win and the bronze medals.

Jaroslav Vedral, Czech Republic skip, said: "Winning bronze is unbelievable. It’s an amazing feeling. In the second half, we had to play a brutal offensive game.

"We had a little luck in the eighth end when Norway made a mistake. We were sitting three so just had to play guards and hope."