A stunning double takeout by Scotland skip Bruce Mouat to score four at the penultimate end relieved the tension and secured his team’s 9-7 win over old rivals Italy as they reached the halfway stage of the round-robin at the World Men’s Championship in Saskatchewan with five wins in six matches.
The re-match of last year’s third place play-off match, which was won by Italy, leaving the then defending champions without a medal for only the second time in five appearances at the Worlds, came at a crucial time in the campaign, on the back of Scotland’s only defeat so far, a shock loss to Czechia the previous evening.
It was also their only game of the fourth day, making Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan all the more determined to demonstrate that they had recovered from that upset as they lined up against Team Retornaz. 
“We were definitely disappointed against Czechia,” Mouat acknowledged.
“It wasn’t our best performance and when you’re at a World Championship you want to always put your best foot forward, so it was important for us to get the rebound with another game against tough opposition.”
Starting with the hammer (last stone advantage), they made the ideal start, blanking the opening end, then scoring two at the second, however the Italians levelled immediately and after forcing the Scots to take just one at the next, scored another two at the fifth to lead 4-3 at the midway break.
A delicately weighted double takeout by Mouat with his final shot of the sixth end served notice of what was to come as the Scots scored two to regain the lead, however the balance seemed to swing their opponents way again when, after blanking the seventh end, Italy scored two at the eighth.
That set things up for the game’s key moment, but Mouat was swift to share the credit with his team after they demonstrated a combination of power and touch to set up the opportunity for a decisive shot which required both, before they went on to close things out without fuss at the final end.
“Yeah, it was a big turning point in the ninth end with the score of four,” said Mouat.
“The boys set up a great end with some really clutch draws and Grant made a really good hit and roll double, so that set up a big end which secured us the win.
“Hammy and Bobby then made really good shots in the 10th end to make Grant’s and my life a lot easier, keeping things pretty smooth to close the game out well.”
Having established themselves in joint second place with Canada behind China - who have won one more game - they could then make the most of the rest of a relatively relaxed day ahead of the second half of the round-robin in which they will be jockeying for play-off places before hopefully targeting medals.
““It’s been a great start to have a five and one record halfway through, so all of us are feeling confident about the way that we’re playing and we’re going to try to keep it going so that we can qualify into the play-offs and get Team GB that spot in the Olympics and it was nice to have a single game day,” said Mouat.
“All four of us could spend some time with our families and friends who have made the trip out here, having a bit of dinner and a chilled, relaxing evening before two big games against two very tough opponents.”
On day five, the Scots meet Switzerland (4pm BST) and Norway (9pm BST), with both matches being shown live on The Curling Channel, while the meeting with the Swiss will also be available on the BBC iPlayer.
The BKT World Men’s Curling Championship runs from 29 March – 6 April, Moose Jaw, SK, Canada.
Scotland Team
Bruce Mouat
Grant Hardie
Bobby Lammie
Hammy McMillan
Kyle Waddell (alternate)
Michael Goodfellow (Team Coach)
Greg Drummond (Olympic Head Coach)
Please click here for draw and results.
Schedule and results:
Day One
Sunday 30 March
Scotland – Austria 12-2
Day Two
Scotland – Japan 9-6
Monday 31 March
Scotland – Korea 9-3
Day Three
Monday 31 March
Scotland – Canada 6-5(EE)
Tuesday 1 April
Scotland – Czechia 8-2
Day Four
Scotland – Italy 9-7
Day Five
Wednesday 2 April
Scotland – Switzerland – 4pm*
Scotland – Norway – 9pm
Day Six
Thursday 3 April
Scotland – Sweden – 4pm*
Scotland – USA – 9pm
Day Seven
Friday 4 April
Scotland – Germany -4pm
Saturday 5 April
Scotland – China – 2am
Day Eight
Saturday 5 April
Qualification games*-4pm
Semi Final games*-10pm
Day Nine
Sunday 6 April
Bronze medal game*-4pm
Gold medal game*-10pm
*Games available on the BBC iPlayer
Images: Anil Mungal/British Curling
