SASKATOON — Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat improved to a 2-0 record in the WFG Masters after defeating Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin 13-6 during Draw 5 action Wednesday morning at Merlis Belsher Place.
Mouat, second Bobby Lammie and lead Hammy McMillan Jr. are playing as a trio this week as third Grant Hardie is recovering from minor surgery and did not make the trip overseas.
“I find with three, everything is obviously a bit heightened,” Mouat said. “You have to pay a bit more attention to things and you’ve got fewer people to rely on.
"It’s going well so far. Sweeping’s all right for the boys, I hope, but for me, it’s pretty similar.”
Mouat would probably be able to call upon a spare for any other Grand Slam of Curling event, however, it seems every top Scottish team is in action here with four in the men's division plus one in the women's division.
"That was really exciting to hear that we have four men’s teams and Rebecca Morrison in the women’s side as well, so yeah a five-team contingent over here," Mouat said. "It just proves that we’re doing something right over in the national curling academy and pretty proud of all of us for working so hard and getting to the Slams."
The repeat of last month's European Championships men's final saw Mouat start with the hammer and count a deuce in the second end to open the scoring. Edin got his first three-ender in the third and the pendulum swung back in Mouat's favour as he scored four in the fourth then stole one in the fifth to lead 7-3.
The reigning Olympic gold medallist Edin added another trio of points in the sixth to close within one and forced Mouat to a single in the seventh to retake the hammer coming home.
Edin needed a Hail Mary shot to keep the game alive and was facing five Mouat rocks but threw it through the house.
Team Mouat shot 93 per cent and Team Edin shot 85 per cent in a game that was closer at times than the final scoreboard indicated.
"It was good fun," said Mouat, who won a fourth career gold medal at the European Championships. "It was pretty tough going sometimes but yeah, nice to get our noses out front and have to try and defend that. Lost a few threes in the game but apart from that it was pretty solid."
Edin is now level at a 1-1 record.
Elsewhere in Draw 5, Team Reid Carruthers, with Brad Jacobs skipping, has also opened the event with two wins after defeating Team James Craik 8-3. Team Carruthers broke a 3-all tie scoring four in the fifth and stealing one in the sixth end.
Jacobs, who has won seven Grand Slam of Curling titles as a skip, previously played third on the Winnipeg-based club and switched spots with Carruthers ahead of the WFG Masters.
Craik, from Scotland, dropped to a 0-2 record and now must win out to avoid elimination.
Canada's Team Kevin Koe scored a single in the eighth end to edge Scotland's Team Cameron Bryce 6-5. Koe climbed to a 1-1 record while Bryce is at 0-2.
Team Joël Retornaz of Italy beat Winnipeg's Team Matt Dunstone 7-5 with both clubs holding 1-1 records.
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters continues with Draw 6 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. local time at Merlis Belsher Place.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday with Draw 10 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. local time on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men's teams and 16 of the top women's teams from around the world. ... Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday's quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. ... The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
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