After beating Italy earlier in the day, Scotland were cruelly denied a second win on the third day of action at the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship in Korea, but will head into the rest of the competition full of confidence as they played exceptional curling against world class opposition throughout.
Up against next year’s Winter Olympic host nation skipped by reigning Olympic mixed doubles champion Stefania Constantini, Rebecca Morrison, Jen Dodds, Sophie Sinclair and Sophie Jackson began without last stone advantage, but controlled the opening two ends, resulting in the first being blanked before they stole at the second to move 1-0 up.
It remained a tight encounter as the third end was blanked before the Italians levelled at the next, but heading into the break, the Scots struck another significant blow with the first two of the game.
The teams then forced one another to take one at each of the next two ends, before a Scottish steal of two took them into what looked a decisive 6-2 lead. 
The Italians then showed their fighting qualities by battling back to score a three at the ninth end to close the gap and then apply pressure at the last, but having to out-score two counting Italian stones, Morrison then calmly closed the game out with a draw to the four foot which secured a 7-5 win.
“We had a really good performance as a team and felt really in control and super relaxed,” said the team’s second Sophie Sinclair who, along with skip and front half partner Sophie Jackson, did a superb job of setting up the ends from start to finish.
“We are really getting to grips with the ice and the ice conditions have been amazing so it has been kind of nice in both games today that we felt really confident about a lot of the shots we were calling and it was good to have full control over Italy.
“Obviously they got a three back so there was a bit of a tense moment there but one up in the last is always a nice position to be in and Rebecca made that amazing draw for the win. So a really, really good game and super chuffed.”
Having finished that match with a 92 per cent record across the team in terms of shot efficiency, they carried that form into their meeting with a Swiss team skipped by four-time World champion Silvana Tirinzoni, partnered as ever in the back end of their line-up by Alina Patz, which had won all four matches to that point.
Once again the Scots started without last stone advantage and once again there was a tense opening to the game, but as they produced pretty much mistake free curling, the first two were blanked before the constant pressure they were applying saw them steal a two at the third.
The teams then exchanged forces at the next two ends, taking Scotland into the midway break 3-1 up, but their opponents responded in characteristic fashion, with twos at the sixth and eighth sandwiching an opposition single.
When the Scots were again forced to score just one at the ninth, Tirinzoni’s women looked to have the upper hand, taking last stone advantage down the final end with the scores tied.
However, with the statistical analysis showing that the Scottish quartet had out-performed their opponents in every position, they played a perfect end, with every shot executed exactly as called, only for Patz to get an exceptional break when her final delivery glanced off a stone that was guarding the counting Scottish stone on its way to tapping Switzerland’s second placed stone onto the button.
After the match Tirinzoni was honest enough to admit of that decisive moment that “it was lucky” and while that in itself offered little solace to the Scots, they could draw consolation from the way they had played.
“It’s a tough loss to take,” Sinclair admitted.
“We felt like we really had control of the game and we were all playing really well and we felt confident and comfortable on the ice, so it is a hard one.
“Losses like that are definitely frustrating but we are all actually feeling really positive, because we are playing really well and we outplayed one of the best teams in the world, so we can only take confidence from that and I think it is only up from here.
“Being on top of the ice conditions is making us feel really confident making lots of shots, so there are definitely a lot of positives to take and we’ve got a morning off tomorrow, so we can come in fresh for our lunchtime game and give it our all.”
The first of their matches on day four sees them take on Sweden, skipped by 2018 Olympic champion Anna Hasselborg, before they then face Lithuania, who have yet to claim a win in their first five visits to the ice.
The LGT World Championship is taking place in the Uijeongbu Ice Rink from March 15-23.
Please click here for draw and results.
Watch LIVE games on The Curling Channel.
The following game will be available on the BBC iPlayer:
19 March – Scotland v Japan
Scotland Team
Rebecca Morrison
Jen Dodds
Sophie Sinclair
Sophie Jackson (skip)
Fay Henderson
Team Coach: Ross Paterson
Olympic Head Coach: Greg Drummond
SCHEDULE:
Saturday 15 March
Scotland – Canada 8-7
Sunday 16 March
Scotland – Norway 7-8
Scotland – Korea 4-5 (EE)
Monday 17 March
Scotland – Italy 7-5
Scotland – Switzerland 5-6
Tuesday 18 March
5.00am Scotland – Sweden
10.00am Scotland – Lithuania
Wednesday 19 March
5.00am Scotland – USA
10.00am Scotland – Japan
Thursday 20 March
5.00am Scotland – Turkiye
Friday 21 March
12.00 midnight Scotland – Denmark
5.00am Scotland – China
Saturday 22 March
1.00am Qualifiers
7.00am Semi Finals
Sunday 23 March
1.00am Bronze Medal Game
7.00am Gold Medal Game
Images: World Curling
