Up and coming skip Ross Whyte believes the experience he gained as their travelling reserve at the European Championships has helped him set up today’s meeting with Bruce Mouat’s top seeds in the A route final at the City of Perth Masters.

The 20-year-old and team-mates Duncan McFadzean, James Craik and Euan Kyle earned that opportunity with a 4-2 defeat of four of the men who represented Team GB at last year’s Winter Olympics – Muirhead brothers Glen and Thomas and Smith brothers Kyle and Cammy – having previously seen off Germany’s Team Harsch 8-2 and Norway’s Team Walstad 6-5. And having picked up a gold medal in Estonia in November as Mouat, he is seeking to emulate the way his compatriots – Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan – have hit the ice running since coming together as a team last season.

“I learned a lot from Team Mouat about how to prepare for a championship and what to do before and after games, so it certainly gave me some insight into being more professional,” he said.

Whyte reached the quarter-finals of this competition last year and is targeting another trip to the play-offs.

“This shows us what we can do against the top teams,” he said. “We want people to realise we can play at that level and really compete.”

Having joined the British Curling programme this season, Whyte feels it is vital to seize the chance to impress.

“As much as we are still young, the physical aspect of the game now and the gym work everyone is doing, the game is getting that bit younger,” he observed.

“The older teams can compete because they can always make the big shots, but the physical side means there are more younger teams coming through, especially in Scotland which is in a really good place just now. The other teams successes are really pushing us on. If we don’t make an impact early we’re not going to be looked upon as some of the top players, so we have to push on with everything we do, do it really professionally and make a statement that we can compete here.”

Mouat and team-mates Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan eased past Norway’s Team Mellemseter 8-2 in their opener, then controlled the closing stages of their meeting with Russia’s Team Vaskov to register a 6-5 win. The other A route final meanwhile features Team Paterson, who beat Mouat in the first ever all-Scottish final at a Grand Slam tournament in Canada last month. They beat Switzerland’s Team Hess 6-5 and Norway’s former world champions Team Ulsrud 5-4 to set up a meeting with the highest ranked foreign rink at the event, Switzerland’s Team De Cruz.