Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat are ready to raise their game for knockout curling after a mixed day at the Ice Cube that featured one victory and one defeat.
Having brushed past Czech Republic 8-3 in the morning session to make it back-to-back wins, the world champions found Italian duo Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini too hot to handle, going down 7-5 to the team who sit top of the round-robin standing with a 100 per cent record.
A powerplay score of three in the penultimate end, that could have been four after extended measurement, propelled the Italians to victory and means Team GB have a 4-2 record in the round robin.
“They played an amazing game,” admitted Mouat.
“They are a really clinical pair and we felt we were playing well enough to beat them, but had a few misses in each end that we need to sharpen up on. Once we’ve done that, we’re going to be solid.”
Dodds and Mouat sit joint third with Canada beyond the halfway stage of the round robin, with six victories enough to guarantee them a semi-final spot and a shot at an Olympic medal.
With hosts China up next tomorrow followed by Norway, the Edinburgh pair aren’t shying away from what’s at stake.
Summing up the Games so far, Mouat said: “We’re pretty happy with how we’re doing.
“We’re a bit disappointed not to win that one, we would have been in a really solid position. We’ve beaten a lot of tough teams out there already which will stand us in good stead.
“Going into another two-game day tomorrow, it’s almost must-win now. I’m excited to go in and see what we can do.
“It looks like a lot of teams are beating each other. The ideal scenario would be to win three and then we’re on seven, that would be nice. I think six is the goal, so two out of the next three would be amazing.”
In the morning session, the Brits had racked up their fourth round robin victory and found their best form in a dominant display against Olympic debutants Czech Republic.
Mouat was able to neutralise the Czech powerplay - a turnaround from the tight tussle with Australia - and score two on their own in the penultimate end to highlight a fine display.
"As a team, that was our best performance," said Dodds.
"We got on top of draw weight a lot quicker and I think that showed in the first half, we were getting the angles and the tacks right.
"That's more like us as a performance. I've still got to figure out some of the ticks but we're getting closer!"
Taking the W!
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 5, 2022
An early concede and it's fourth victory for Jen Dodds and @BruceMouat 🥌
Up next? The unbeaten Italians at 12:05. #TeamGB #Beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/zVnwGsmAOA
Mouat was in imperious form, nailing all nine attempted take-outs and registering a 92% success rate on 12 draw shots.
The pair were cheered to victory on by their Team GB colleagues with Eve Muirhead's rink and the rest of Mouat's team offering vocal support at Beijing's National Aquatics Centre.