Four wins on the spin puts Team Mouat on cusp of medal shot

Curling 14 Feb 22

Bruce Mouat’s game-winning shot helped Team GB's men's curlers notch a fourth consecutive win, narrowly beating Switzerland 6-5 to put them on the cusp of securing a semi-final spot.

The British skip needed to remove a Swiss stone with the hammer in the tenth and final end to secure victory but kept his nerve, thanks in part to some skilful sweeping from teammates Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr.

Mouat, who made a couple of uncharacteristic errors earlier in the game, praised his sweepers after the victory, admitting: “I always feel confident when Hammy and Bobby are standing by me on the hack.

“Obviously I had a bit of nerves. It was basically just trying to throw it as hard as I could and give it to the sweepers.

“I tried to throw it half-stone and let Bobby take it back a wee bit and that's exactly what he did.”

After Team GB blanked the first end, Grant Hardie produced an excellent shot in the second to remove three Swiss stones from the house and help Team GB take a 1-0 lead.

Switzerland levelled the scoreboard in the third, but a dominant end from Great Britain allowed Mouat to draw his final stone to the button and move his rink two ahead.

Team GB looked in control as Switzerland only managed to halve the deficit in the fifth, but a rare lapse of concentration from Mouat with the six-end hammer gifted the Swiss a crucial steal to tie the game.

The British skip then settled for just one point in the seventh, unable to blank the end and retain the hammer, but picked up a steal in the eighth.

Switzerland clawed two back in the ninth to produce a nervy finale at 5-5, although Team GB retrieved the all-important hammer for the final end and Mouat saved his best until last to make it five wins in six for his men.

Team GB are second in the rankings behind unbeaten World Champions Sweden, who have won all six of their games, and the two table toppers go head-to-head at 8.05pm local time/12.05pm in the UK tomorrow in a mouth-watering clash.

Team Mouat beat Sweden in the finals of the European Championships in November and Mouat is relishing the contest with a win all but securing his second semi-final of the Games, after taking fourth in the mixed doubles with Jen Dodds.

“I'm very excited to play Sweden. They've got a lot of Olympic experience and that's what we play for, the big games and they'll be one of the biggest,” said Mouat.

“I think we've got a really good track record against them this season. We've played them quite a few times this season, so we just need to come out and play well, which I feel like we're doing.

“They're doing the same because they're undefeated so far. We're going to try to do what we do best, which is playing very technical tap shots, so we'll see what we get tomorrow."

Vice skip Hardie is zoning in on making the next stage after helping the men’s rink progress through a nervy encounter against the Swiss by drawing at 94 percent.

He added: "We knew the importance of that game coming in knowing we have three very tough games to come.

"Hopefully, we can kick on now and secure our spot in the play-offs tomorrow."