They may be up against some of the best teams in the history of the sport, but Scotland skip Ross Paterson believes he and his teammates are capable of doing even better than on his previous visit to the LGT World Men’s Curling Championships in Las Vegas when he went home with a prized bronze medal.
The 38-year-old made the trip to the Nevada desert as the alternate for Team Mouat when they made the same trip four years ago, but this time he is leading his own team of Scottish champions alongside Kyle Waddell, Duncan Menzies, Craig Waddell and alternate Euan Kyle and he believes they are playing well enough to power through the round-robin stages and play-offs to reach and win the final at the event which takes place from April 2-10. 
“The guys did great last time at this venue coming away with bronze and we have our own set of expectations,” said Paterson.
“We are hungry as a team and we are delighted to be here. The first job is to get to the play-offs and obviously from there it is a new competition, so much like the Scottish we are just going to concentrate on ourselves and the processes we have put in place to make sure we are performing at the highest level we can and make sure we do that and have a consistent campaign. I am excited to see what we can do.”
Thirteen teams are taking part in the event, with the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland and hosts the USA lining up alongside including Olympic gold medallists and defending World Champions Sweden, as well as Olympic bronze medallists Canada.
As five-time World and seven-time European champions Edin’s Swedes will go into the event as favourites on the back of that first Olympic win in Beijing in February, while 2006 Olympic champion Gushue makes the relatively short trip across the North American border having just claimed a record equalling fourth Canadian title, but Paterson knows it will require consistency against all-comers to give his men a chance of achieving their target.
“Edin and Gushue lead two of the most experienced teams in the world and the question now is about Niklas and is he the greatest of all time, with the record he has now got and finally getting that Olympic gold medal,” Paterson observed. 
“We are just seeing it as a challenge for our team, though and not trying to approach games as to who we are playing. We will focus on just bringing our best game on a game-by-game basis and if we can apply ourselves to that it doesn’t matter too much who we are facing.
“Playing against those guys you have to be on the top of your game to give yourself the chance to win the game and if we can do that then we have a good chance against anyone.
“However, our concentration is solely on maximising our own performances in every single game, so you have to apply the same respect to every team you play and it is a long week. We have 12 games in the round robin so we have to bring the same intensity to every game to give us the best possible chance and that is what we want to do.
“At our last major at the Europeans in 2019 Craig (Waddell) was there as our fifth man, so we have that full team who have experience at this level.
“We have Euan (Kyle) with us as well and I am excited for him. He is a great guy to have around the team and he has settled in really quickly and we have a good environment in the team.
“Everyone cherishes these opportunities. There is no guarantee of how many international events you will get to in your career representing Scotland, so everyone is wanting to make the most of this and if you come away with a gold medal that is what we are all striving to achieve.”
Having revelled in the environment last time around, Paterson knew what to expect in terms of surroundings, but knows that he carries much more responsibility this time. 
“The hotel is pretty much joined to the arena and you are walking through the casino to your games so it is a bit of a bizarre scenario but you get adjusted to it pretty quickly and then you have a pool and it is sunny outside which really feels like something different Vegas can offer the curling world,” he said.
“The excitement is definitely building as this is a special place and it is nice to be here with the boys and a new team.
“Obviously last time I was here with Team Mouat, but it feels better this time being here with my team.
“Last time, as an alternate, I got on the ice for one or two ends against Japan when I made my appearance, so to get out and to be playing in front of family and friends who have flown out to watch us will be brilliant. We are excited about what is ahead of us and I think we have a great opportunity, so we’re just keen to get going now.”
Team Scotland
Ross Paterson (vice-skip)
Kyle Waddell (skip)
Duncan Menzies
Craig Waddell
Euan Kyle (alternate)
Link to Broadcast games on The Curling Channel in partnership with Recast
Broadcast games:
Tuesday 5 April
22:00 — Scotland v United States
Friday 8 April
17:00 — Scotland v Canada
19:00 — Scotland v Switzerland
Saturday 9 April
03:00 — Qualification Game 1
22:00 — Qualification Game 2
03:00 — Semi-final 1
03:00 — Semi-final 2
Sunday 10 April
19:00 — Bronze medal game
00:00 midnight — Gold medal game
Schedule and results:
Saturday 2 April
Scotland – Italy
Sunday 3 April
Scotland – Korea
Scotland – Norway
Monday 4 April
Scotland – Denmark
Scotland – Germany
Tuesday 5 April
Scotland – USA
Scotland – Finland
Wednesday 6 April
Scotland – Czech Republic
Thursday 7 April
Scotland – Netherlands
Scotland – Sweden
Friday 8 April
Scotland – Canada
Scotland – Switzerland
Saturday 9 April
Qualifications games
Semi finals
Sunday 10 April
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
#curling #WMCC2022
