World champions Team Mouat will head into the last Grand Slam of the year short-handed, but they are still looking to build on the success they enjoyed last month in winning the European Championships for the fourth time in four appearances at the event. 
Vice skip Grant Hardie has missed the trip to the WFG Masters in Saskatoon after minor surgery last weekend and is recovering well, but not quite quickly enough to be able to make the trans-Atlantic flight.
The situation is not unprecedented, however, the team having operated on a three-player basis when Bobby Lammie had a spell on the sidelines with injury last year and they are still confident of being able to compete as part of the biggest ever Scottish contingent heading at a Grand Slam tournament.
“We’re looking forward to playing in the last Slam of the year,” said Mouat.
“It should be another good event and it’s really nice to see four Scottish teams here showing how well we’re all doing.
“It would be nice to kick on from another good Europeans for us and we’re hoping to have some more success this week and solidify what we just did there in the rest of this season.
“We tend to see it as the end of the first half of the season and hopefully it will set up another good end to our season.
“The Euros normally come at a really nice point in the season for us and are normally a nice turning point.
“We had things we wanted to build through the first half of the season, so the Euros was a good end to that and we’re hoping to move forward.”
Team Mouat have been regularly accompanied by compatriots Team Whyte at Grand Slam events in recent seasons and having also established themselves in the world’s top ten, currently ranked seventh, Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Duncan McFadzean and Euan Kyle are feeling ever more comfortable in the elite environment of the game’s biggest money competitions.
“We are feeling very confident in our form and feel like we have made great progress this year, so hopefully we can continue that as we are playing well and gelling even more as a team than we have over the past four years,” said skip Whyte. 
“We want to continue our good form at the Slams. That is our main priority when we set our goals each year, as well as doing well at the Scottish Championships and hopefully we can continue that.
“We feel like everyone now knows us on the Slam circuit and no matter who we play we can go out there and compete and try and win absolutely every game.”
He noted that the performance of their lead at the recent Euro Super Series Mixed Doubles in an event which featured some of the best pairings in the world, was a further recent boost.
“We’re looking to build on Euan’s good run at the recent ESS and his partner Fay has obviously converted that into some team success, winning a first senior title with her team at the Aberdeen Classic, so we are also looking to do the same and go deep into the competition this week.
“You never get an easy game out here at the Slams and it always tough but we are fully prepared for this week and we hope we can put on a good show. 
“It’s great to see four Scottish men’s teams here this week and hopefully we will all do well.”
For Cammy Bryce’s team it will be a debut in a Tier One Grand Slam event, but they have all the evidence they need of how well competing in Scotland and Europe has prepared them for this level in the presence of four more of their compatriots.
James Craik, Mark Watt, Angus Bryce and Blair Haswell made their first appearance in a Slam at The National last month and powered into the play-offs at the first attempt, joining Teams Mouat and Whyte in the quarter-finals.
“Our first Slam back in Pictou, Nova Scotia is one we definitely won’t forget,” said Craik.
“Getting the chance to play against all the top teams in the world on a massive international stage was truly amazing.
“The fans, volunteers and atmosphere is so special and has made us even more excited for this event coming up this week. 
“We learned so much from that week and have been able to build on that experience in preparation for this next Slam.”
The 2022 men’s World Junior Championship winning skip reckons their performance demonstrated what is possible with the right attitude.
“Making the play-offs at the last Slam in our first attempt was something many people I don’t feel expected,” he noted.
“Being the Slam ‘rookies. as such and coming in as the youngest team at the event meant we only had room to impress which sort of cleared some of the nerves, however as a team we always felt we had a decent chance at qualifying with the form we have been on recently so had set that as our goal.
“We really wanted to go out there put on a good show and shoot the way we have been this season, which i feel we did.
“In achieving that playoff spot in our first crack at the Slams really gave our team a great confidence boost but more so clarity in that all the work we are doing is helping and we are going in the direction that we want to. 
“We have always wanted to be playing in these Slams and getting here was such a grind for the team.
“We all work so hard on the ice whilst balancing near enough full time jobs and Uni on top of that. but now we are here and have got a taste for it, we are working harder than ever to make sure that we stay.
“I feel it’s where the team needs to be and over time with hopefully a few more good showings like the last, we can solidify our position in these competitions and push for more.“This week for us is another chance for us to push those at the top and hopefully grab a few wins.
“We have our eyes set on the play-offs but more so on our own performances game by game.
“We can’t wait to get out on the arena ice again and hopefully put on a show.”
In a format which sees teams face four opponents from another of the pools, three of the Scottish teams have been grouped together, Team Mouat facing Team Koe in their opener and Craik starting out against Team Dunstone, while Bryce takes on Sweden’s six-time World champions Team Edin.
Whyte meanwhile sets out against Norway’s Team Ramsfjell, while in the women’s event, Rebecca Morrison, Jen Dodds, Gina Aitken, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson once again find themselves up against Switzerland’s Team Tirinzoni in their first match, having had a series of tight matches against the four time World champions this season, including beating them at the Players Open in Canada in October.
Please click here for the schedule and results.
Image 3: Anil Mungal.
