Scotland’s LGT World Men’s Curling Championships title defence ended in Switzerland when they were beaten 9-4 by Canada in a semi-final which changed dramatically after the midway interval.
Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan had gained the upper hand in the first half of the match, having started without last stone advantage because their opponents had finished a place above them in the round-robin stages.
A steal at the fourth end had edged them 3-2 ahead and while Brad Gushue’s men had levelled things at the next, that meant the hammer and last stone advantage had been reversed as they went into the second half.
The Canadians then did well at the next to put Mouat under pressure, with four of their stones counting as Mouat delivered his final stone.
By the Scottish skip’s high standards it was a relatively straightforward draw to score the one which would have been less than ideal in itself, but disaster struck as it drew up short, allowing Canada to score three and surge into a commanding 6-3 lead.
When they then scored a second three two ends later after Mouat’s last stone wrecked on a guard, the Scots were left with no option but to shake hands and accept that the title was no longer theirs.
“That was pretty frustrating and we’re feeling pretty gutted,” said Mouat.
“I thought we were the better team for the first five ends and did a lot of really good things to put them under pressure and turn the tide with the hammer which was our first goal, to turn the hammer by halfway.”
While the frosty conditions in the Schaffhausen arena have been mentioned by several of the skips through the week, Mouat was not inclined to make excuses, however.
“The ice has been pretty tricky at points, but I felt today that it was pretty good,” he said.
“Maybe the draw I played in the sixth end was just a little wide on a path and it came down in weight.
“I quite liked it out of my hand and I think the boys liked it as well, but it just came down and came up short which was pretty disappointing.”
Having completed a full set of medals last year after claiming bronze on their World Championships debut in 2018 and silver in 2021, the Scottish skip remains determined to achieve a podium finish.
“We’re going to have to re-group for tomorrow now,” he said.
“We’ve been in this bronze medal game before and we’ll work hard to get the medal, because that’s still a prestigious thing, so we’ll put every effort in to get it.”
Scotland meet world number one Italy’s Team Retornaz following their 5-3 semi final defeat to Sweden’s six time World Champions Team Edin.
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Scotland Team
Bruce Mouat
Grant Hardie
Bobby Lammie
Hammy McMillan
Kyle Waddell (alternate)
Team Coach Michael Goodfellow
Olympic Head Coach Greg Drummond
Schedule (GMT/BST) & Results
Saturday 30 March
Session 1
Scotland – Korea 10-3
Session 2
Scotland – USA 10-3
Sunday 31 March
Session 4
Scotland – Canada 4-8
Session 5
Scotland – Italy 8-3
Monday 1 April
Session 7 – 13.00
Scotland – New Zealand 8-2
Tuesday 2 April
Session 10 – 13.00
Scotland –Germany 7-8
Wednesday 3 April
Session 12
Scotland – Czechia 6-3
Session 14
Scotland –Japan 7-5
Thursday 4 April
Session 15
Scotland –Netherlands 6-3
Session 17
Scotland – Switzerland 8-7 (EE)
Friday 5 April
Session 18
Scotland –Norway 9-8 (EE)
Session 20
Scotland –Sweden 8-6
Saturday 6 April
09.00
Qualification Games
Scotland – USA 8-4
Germany – Italy 3-8
15.00
Semi Finals
Sweden – Italy 5-3
Canada – Scotland 9-4
Sunday 7 April
09.00
Bronze Medal Game – Scotland v Italy
14.00
Gold Medal Game –Sweden v Canada
Images: World Curling 