Team Mouat saved their best performance of the week at the BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championships for when it mattered most as they produced a high precision performance to over-power hosts Canada and claim the gold medal in a one-sided final in Ottawa.
Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan all shot well over 90 per cent as they took control of their meeting with Team Gushue from the outset and never gave them a chance to get back into a match which was completed in just eight of the 10 scheduled ends as the Scots ran out 9-3 winners.
A text book start saw them blank the opening end, before a double takeout by skip Bruce Mouat as he perfectly judged an awkward angle to keep his shooter in the rings, saw them claim a two at the second end. 
With three Scottish stones in counting positions to apply maximum pressure on Canadian skip Brad Gushue at the next, his attempt to draw into the four foot ran too far, allowing a steal of two to put Mouat in charge of the match.
They then forced the Canadians to take a single at the next and after Mouat’s perfect promotion with his first stone at the fifth, Gushue’s hit and roll attempt ran too far, leaving a straightforward opportunity to take a 6-1 lead into the midway break.
From that point it was simply about controlling the scoreboard and after conceding a two at the sixth, Mouat was given the chance to blank the seventh end.
A brilliant clearing shot by Bobby Lammie at the eighth end then removed two opposition guards and their solitary stone in the house, forcing the Canadians to take risks that failed to come off and ultimately allowing Mouat to secure the match deciding three.
“I didn’t expect the final to go that way,” said the Scottish skip.
“I just can’t really believe it happened the way it did. 
“It felt like we were going to have to play a shot to win it in the 10th or 11th end, so it was just an unbelievable performance from all of the guys.
“To bring a game like that in a championship final means a lot.
“I’m just so proud of our coaching staff, Mikey (Goodfellow) and Ross (Paterson) and our fifth player Kyle (Waddell) for putting up with us all week and everyone that’s been part of our team, including everyone back home.”
Having headed into the event aiming to complete a full set of World Championship medals after winning bronze on their debut in 2018, then silver on their last appearance two years ago, he half-jokingly suggested that they had almost started the final too well.
“Having such a big lead early on made me more nervous,” he said.
“Obviously you’re in a game like that, then you have to defend that lead and that made things a bit more anxious for me, but we managed to keep our cool I think.
“It was absolutely amazing. We shot the lights out. 
“We needed an A-plus game to win a world final, which is what we said to one another this morning.”
Unlike their previous World Championship final which was also in Canada, but played in the Calgary bubble due to COVID restrictions, the match took place in front of a packed house in the TD Place Arena, most of whom were fervently supporting their home team, but the Scots fed off the atmosphere.
“The crowd has been cheering great shots all week, so it’s just been an absolute pleasure to play in front of them,” said Mouat.
“I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life, not only the world title win, but the atmosphere that was created in there.
“It’s giving me goosebumps just thinking about it.”
Little more than a year after the disappointment of losing the Olympic final in Beijing, it was the perfect start to a new four-year cycle and having completed the full set of World Championship medals, they can now focus on the sport’s ultimate prize. 
“The year after the Olympics, where we were gutted with the result, but knew we had created something special when we were there, we knew that if we brought something similar we could definitely win a World Championship and that’s exactly what we did tonight,” said Mouat.
“We’re going to keep going to try to get to the Olympics and hopefully re-create something like what we did today.
“That’s the goal for all of us and is exactly why we’re still together right now.
“It’s going to be a long four years, but we’re definitely ready to go.
“This was just a great week. We had our ups and downs, but we performed when we needed to and had a really good game to finish it off, which is exactly what you need to do.”
As one of the most decorated competitors in the history of the sport, having won Olympic gold back in 2006, Canadian skip Gushue was generous in his praise of the Scottish quartet, while manfully accepting responsibility for allowing them to claim the upper hand early on. 
“I changed the momentum by missing my shot at the third end to give up the steal of two and when you’re down 4-0 against a team of Bruce’s calibre your odds are not good,” he acknowledged.
“We had to push a little bit after that and gave him some opportunities and to their credit they played an incredible game.
“The only light I’m looking at right now is that even if we played our best it still might not have been good enough, given how well they played.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t put on a good show for the people in Ottawa who did an incredible job hosting this all week.
“But congratulations to Bruce’s team. I knew it was a matter of time before they won this, I just didn’t want it to be against us.”
WATCH LIVE games from Recast’s The Curling Channel.
BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championships.
Schedule and Results:
Saturday 1 April
Session 1
Scotland – Italy 7-4
Sunday 2 April
Session 3
Scotland – Turkiye 8-1
Session 4
Scotland – Sweden 4-7 
Monday 3 April
Session 7
Scotland – Germany 8-6
Tuesday 4 April
Session 9
Scotland – USA 10-8
Session 11
Scotland – Switzerland 4-8
Wednesday 5 April
Session 12
Scotland – Japan 9-2
Session 14
Scotland – Korea 9-3
Thursday 6 April
Session 16
Scotland – Norway 9-5
Session 17
Scotland – Canada 6-3
Friday 7 April
Session 19
Scotland – Czech Republic 9-3
Session 20
Scotland – New Zealand 10-4
Saturday 8 April
Qualification Games
Norway – Italy 4-8
Canada – Sweden 9-1
Semi Finals
Scotland – Italy 9-8 (EE)
Switzerland – Canada 5-7
Sunday 9 April
Bronze medal game
Switzerland – Italy 11-3
Gold medal game
Scotland – Canada 9-3
World Champions 2023 – Scotland - Team Mouat
Team Mouat
Bruce Mouat
Grant Hardie
Bobby Lammie
Hammy McMillan
Kyle Waddell (alternate)
Michael Goodfellow (Team Coach)
Ross Paterson (Coach)
Nigel Holl (Team Leader)
Image: WCF/Celine Stucki
#curling #WMCC2023
