Scotland returns to boss the Roaring Game
Scotland’s Bruce Mouat overwhelmed Canada’s Brad Gushue 9-3 in the final of the world men’s curling championship in Ottawa.
The gold-medal victory marks Scotland’s first men’s title since David Murdoch—Curling Canada’s new director of high performance—defeated Canada’s Kevin Martin at Moncton in 2009.
Canada hasn’t won men’s gold since Gushue’s first trip to the worlds in 2017. It’s his second straight silver medal and third in the past five years.
After an opening blank, Scotland skip Mouat played a double takeout in the second end to jump to a 2-0 lead.
The third end at TD Place was crucial. Gushue was facing three Scottish counters when he played his final draw, which was too heavy, and the Canadians gave up a steal of two points to increase Scotland’s lead to 4-0.
Canada got on the scoreboard in the fourth end when two-time Olympic medallist Gushue played a hit and roll to score a single to trail 4-1. In the fifth end Mouat made a draw for two points and took a 6-1 lead into the break.
The writing was clearly on the wall, and Gushue knew it. When he scored two in the sixth end to reduce the Scottish lead to 6-3, Gushue smiled as he walked back the length of the ice, acknowledging the partisan crowd.
After a blanked seventh end, the Canadians failed to maneuver their stones and three-time European champion Mouat played a hit and stick to score three points in the eighth, whereupon Canada conceded.
“That was unreal,” said Mouat, who was supported by Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr. “I didn’t expect the final to go that way, but I’m just so proud of everyone who’s been part of our team, I’m over the moon.
“It was amazing. We shot the lights out. We knew we need an A-plus game to win a world final and that’s what (we had) said.”
The final was cruel and unusual punishment for Gushue who had played so well down the stretch for Canada.
“It changed the momentum by giving up a steal of two,” said Gushue, who was backed by Mark Nichols, E.J. Harnden and Geoff Walker.
“And when you’re down 4-0 to a team of Bruce’s calibre, your odds are not good.
“They played an incredible game. Even if we’d played our best, it might not have been good enough, the way they played.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t put on a show for the incredible people of Ottawa.”
The Scots fired a scintillating 96 in team shooting percentage in the final. Even given the subjective nature of curling’s ancient scoring system, that’s a remarkable number.
Ottawa’s TD Place was busy throughout the 10-day, 13-team event and positively throbbed during the playoffs. It marked the first world curling championship with true pre-pandemic vibes.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to play in front of this crowd,” said Mouat, who had scored silver and bronze world medals and Olympic silver coming in.
“I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life, not just this world title, but the atmosphere that was created in there … it’s giving me goosebumps, I’m very excited.”
The bronze medal match was equally lopsided, as Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller thumped 2022 bronze winner Joel Retornaz of Italy by a 11-3 count.
Ottawa marked the first world men’s championship without Sweden’s Niklas Edin on the podium since 2016.
Edin, the four-time defending champion, made a shot for the ages the day before the round robin concluded—one day before his world collapsed with three consecutive losses.
The Collie Campbell Memorial Award for sportsmanship, as voted by the athletes, was given to New Zealand skip Anton Hood.
The top six playoff teams all raced to Toronto in advance of the Players’ Championship, the fifth Grand Slam event of the season, which starts Tuesday. Practice ice starts on Monday.
The 2024 world men’s championship is headed to Schaffhausen, Switzerland while the women’s championship will be hosted by Sydney, Nova Scotia.