WORLD CHAMPS HEAD INTO BRONZE MEDAL GAME AT FIRST OLYMPICS

After leading for much of their semi-final against Norway, World Champions Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat narrowly missed out on an appearance in the Olympic final in Beijing when their opponents rallied in the closing stages to claim a 6-5 win in Beijing’s Ice Cube.

It was a heart-breaking loss for the Team GB pair who had beaten the same opponents Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedrogotten in the World Championship final last year and they looked to be on course for another victory when they led 4-2 at the midway point of the Olympic semi-final

.The Norwegians battled back powerfully in the second half, however, Skaslien holding her nerve to draw the winning shot, leaving Dodds and Mouat to try to regather themselves overnight ahead of a bronze medal decider against Alida de Val and Oskar Eriksson following the Swedes’ defeat by Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who remain unbeaten throughout the event.

“With Jen’s last we just needed to put it in a really good position to force Kristin into playing a really tough draw and unfortunately we just overswept it a wee bit and gave her too much backing, so we’re disappointed with how we handled that,” he said. 

“When you don’t have the hammer at the last end it’s quite a scary position to be in and fair play to her for making that draw to the button to win.”

He acknowledged that the match had got away from them in the powerplays where Norway scored a three on theirs, then kept their opponents to a score of just one at the next.

“The powerplays change up the dynamic a bit and you’re trying to play shots you wouldn’t in the first five ends. We were just over-icing a few things, we didn’t make any of the doubles we were trying and we were just trying to reduce them to a two, but unfortunately that’s what happens sometimes,” said Mouat.

“You can be inches away and the run back I was close to making was a centimetre away, but we just have to rebound tomorrow and come out and fight for that medal.”

“In mixed doubles, even if you’re controlling the game like we did for five ends, it’s hard to say you’re in control, though. It’s so hard to keep on top of things in mixed doubles.

“The fact we tried to make her shot a tough one at the last shows how resilient we were and it’s going to be hard to get over, but we need to have a discussion about what happened tonight, then just play great for eight ends tomorrow.”

Dodds paid tribute to the way the Norwegians had coped with the pressure they had piled onto them.

“They are great opponents, great shot-makers and they ever give up. That was clear today. After the half-time break they really came out fighting, which shows the strength they have and just congratulations to them and good luck for the final,” she said.

“Some shots will play on our minds because of the magnitude of them, but that’s curling for you. You miss shots, you make shots, but we have to push that aside for tomorrow’s game and come back out fighting against Sweden."

The Norwegians had started with the hammer because they had beaten Team GB in the round-robin matches, but Skaslien was off target with the final stone of the end, allowing the British pair to steal the lead.

They applied the pressure again at the second end, but this time Skaslien was up to the challenge, producing a well-judged raise to squeeze one of her stones in to beat the British counter by millimetres and level the scores.

The Norwegian got her team out of serious trouble at the next with a double take out at the next to reduce the British count to one, but Dodds’ hit and roll with the last shot potentially crucially secured a two.

A succession of half shots by the British pair, culminating in Dodds removing just one of three counting Norwegian stones with her attempted double takeout, handed Skaslien a chance to draw for a three to move her team into the lead for the first time and she made no mistake.

They then failed to capitalise on their own powerplay and after taking their timeout, they turned down a high-risk attempt at a double as Dodds drew to the four foot to level the scores.

A delicate tick by Skaslien to remove the guard with her opening shot of the final end then left Mouat having to repeatedly replace and hope for a mistake from Nerdogrotten. It never came, however and when Dodds’ final attempt to draw to the front of the button ran too far, Skaslien was left with a straightforward chance to rest on it and claim the win.

“They were very good,” said Mouat.

“We pushed them as far as we could. I think that if we’d forced them to a two in their powerplay we were probably going to win that. It’s going to be tough to get over, but we have to come out tomorrow because there’s still a medal up for grabs and we’re both hungry for it.

“I actually felt very good going into that game. We’ve came out with confidence and drive which is exactly what we wanted to do. We had such a good game against the USA this morning that it just gave us so much confidence going into this game and it showed in the first five ends."

The number one skip in the men’s world rankings was, however, very tough in his assessment of his own contribution in the latter stages as the match turned around.

“I think we controlled that, which is maybe the toughest part for us right now,” he said.

“We were in control for the first four and even at the fifth end we were looking good for a steal and a multiple count.

“I’m just really disappointed in my last three ends. That’s going to be the toughest thing to get over. Jen played absolutely amazing all day so I’m disappointed at what I’ve done to the team and myself. It’s tough.”

Dodds was having none of that, however, noting that they can still finish on a high ahead of rejoining their men’s and women’s teams later in the week.

“I felt that was the best game we played all week, so I think that’s even harder to take as well. We gave ourselves a chance at the end and that’s all we could ask for,” she said.

“We win as a team, lose as a team, but now we have to re-group for tomorrow. Obviously we’re disappointed to not be in the final, but there’s still a bronze medal to play for tomorrow and if we play like we did for the majority of that game it’ll be a really good fight against Sweden.”

Beyond that they know they also have the men’s and women’s team events to look forward to and Dodds said the backing of their teammates will be crucial ahead of the bronze medal match.

“I’ll probably talk to the girls tonight and I presume Bruce will talk to the boys as well. They’ve been a great support to us throughout this whole championship so far and have been right behind us the whole way, so it’s great for them to even come in and watch us play in the stands and we’re really grateful for their support,” she said.

Despite the rawness of such a loss, Mouat was still able to look to the bigger picture for the sport he loves in noting his awareness of the attention that has been generated.

“It’s great that we can show off our sport on such a big stage and I’m really proud of how we’ve gone about it, making the playoffs," he said.

“I hope that results in curling being on the TV more and has people coming and wanting to participate in it. That’s an achievement in itself.”