A comfortable win over Hungary has taken Team GB’s Mixed Doubles pair into a share of top spot in their pool at the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Korea and set up a winner-take-all decider against traditional rivals Canada.
Cally Soutar and Ethan Brewster grabbed the initiative with a four at the opening end of their penultimate round-robin match and they maintained that advantage to the end, running out 8-4 winners.
“It was great to get that opening four which settled any nerves and gave us a boost for the rest of the match,” said Soutar.
“We feel like we’re playing better as the event has progressed, making our shots more accurately than we were, which is great and we’re just looking to maintain that for the rest of the competition.”
Along with Canada’s defeat at the hands of Czechia, who had lost to Team GB the previous day, it now means those three teams are all tied in first place in the pool with records of three wins and one defeat.
The British pair will consequently know exactly what they have to do to reach the quarter-finals because the Czechs face a tricky tie against Korea, the only team to have beaten Team GB so far, before the British pair take on the Canadians in the next round of matches.
It is an encounter that has added implications for Brewster since his mother is Canadian, but the 16-year-old Aberdonian said he would be looking to treat the match just as he would any other.
“I wouldn’t say it’s too much of a change compared to other games, but obviously Great Britain and Canada have had their curling rivalries over the years, so it’s pretty special to be part of that,” he observed.
Results
Day 1
GB – Nigeria 15-0
Day 2
GB – Korea 2-11
Day 3
GB – Czechia 8-3
Day 4
GB – Hungary 8-4
Day 5
GB – Canada
Please click here for the schedule and results.
Please click here for streaming.
Image: Team GB - Sam Mellish
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