Scotland’s Team Mouat claimed their third title in this season’s three Grand Slam of Curling (GSOC) events when they out-grappled the host nation’s Team Jacobs in the final of the KIOTI National in St John’s, Newfoundland to further strengthen their position at the top of the world rankings.
Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan had arrived in Canada just two days after suffering the disappointment of losing their European title when they were beaten in last weekend’s final, having won the event on all four previous appearances.
They were consequently determined to re-assert themselves and while they suffered their first defeat in any match at a Grand Slam this season during the round-robin stages, they avenged that result in full in the course of a dominant run through the play-offs.
That re-match in the quarter-final with 2018 Olympic champion John Shuster’s team was over in just six ends as the Scots registered a 7-2 win and they followed that with a similarly comprehensive 5-1 defeat of Canada’s Team McEwen who had finished the round-robin in top spot. 
That set up their meeting with the team skipped by 2014 Olympic champion Brad Jacobs and while this low scoring encounter went the full eight ends, Mouat’s men always looked to have the upper hand and crucially scored a well worked two at the sixth end to take the lead for the first time.
That fulfilled Mouat’s slightly tongue in cheek response to being asked in a pre-match interview how they were looking to win the game, when he said they would look to flip the hammer by the seventh end then play a good eighth.
They duly forced Jacobs to settle for a single at the seventh end and at the eighth, a brilliant tick shot by McMillan which cleared the centre line, but saw the lead’s shooter bite the edge of the rings on the wing, left them with a relatively straightforward task of playing out the end until Mouat was left with a routine hit to complete a 5-3 win.
“I told everyone what we were looking to do and it was just down to us all to be able to do it, and we did,” he joked afterwards.
“We played a phenomenal game though and stuck to our gameplan which was to flip the hammer by the seventh end.
“The sixth end was the big one for us.
“We knew we had to try to get two there to give ourselves a really good chance of winning the game.
“We produced some unbelievable shots in the sixth and the seventh just to give us that chance to come down the eighth with the hammer and level, so it was an exceptional performance in the later part of the game to make sure we had those opportunities and could see it across the line.
“They’re really good guys and both teams have a lot of respect for each other. It was a really well played game and a very enjoyable final to be a part of.” 
It was Team Mouat’s first win at The National since their debut Grand Slam victory, the first ever by a Scottish men’s team, seven years ago.
However, it was also their ninth win in all in the most lucrative series of events in the sport, taking them to fourth place on the all-time GSOC list, behind teams led by three of the most celebrated skips in Canadian curling history, Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard and Brad Gushue, whom they beat in the finals of this season’s previous two Grand Slams, the Tour Challenge and the Canadian Open.
“It’s kind of crazy to me because those are some big names and it’s incredible to be amongst those legends and a part of the Grand Slams,” said Mouat.
“That was a really good way to bounce back from the Europeans and the disappointing final there, though and we came here with good intent and performed really well to give ourselves the chance to win another title, which is exactly what we did.”
He also paid tribute to the passionate curling fans in St John’s who had created a noisy atmosphere all week, even after home town favourite Gushue was knocked out in the quarter-finals.
“It’s been absolutely outstanding this week and I can’t thank everyone enough for all the support throughout the entire week, not just for our team, but for every team,” said Mouat.
“You’ve made us feel like celebrities here and we really appreciate everything.”
For results and more information from KIOTI National.
Images: Anil Mungal/GSOC
