Mouat back on track at Kioti National with win over Dunstone

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Team Bruce Mouat bounced back into the win column at the KIOTI National with a 5-2 victory over Team Matt Dunstone during Draw 10 Thursday.

The world's No. 1 squad from Scotland had posted perfect records through the HearingLife Tour Challenge and Co-op Canadian Open to claim back-to-back Grand Slam titles. Mouat sustained his first loss in the series this season Wednesday night with a 6-3 decision against Team John Shuster of the United States.

"That was important for us," said Mouat, who improved to a 2-1 record in the tournament. "Obviously, it’s tough every Slam. You’re playing the best teams in the world, trying to bounce back after a tough loss. It was a close game and John played an amazing shot to win. 

"We knew we were playing well enough to come back, bounce back and win a game and that’s exactly what we did." 

Mouat took advantage after Dunstone came up short on a draw in the second end and punched it out to score three key points. 

The eight-time Grand Slam champ Mouat had Dunstone in a world of hurt in the sixth end leading 4-1 and sitting five counters in the house. Dunstone made an angle raise to pinball his stone into the cluster for shot rock and avoid giving up a huge steal. 

Mouat added another insurance point in the seventh and ran Dunstone out of rocks in the eighth end. 

The two skips competed against each other during the 2016 World Junior Championships in a field filled with future stars including Sweden's Rasmus Wranå, Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell and Korey Dropkin of the United States. Mouat, who won the gold medal at that event, said it's pretty special playing against them all these years later. 

"I knew back then there was going to be a lot of talent in our age group," Mouat said. "Seeing all of us being able to step into the top tier of curling, it’s really special to be able to still play them. It’s been nearly 10 years now that we’ve been playing against them, it’s nice to know that we know each other pretty well and they’re great guys. It’s really enjoyable to play against them."

Dunstone, from Winnipeg, fell to 1-2 and must win his final round-robin game Friday against Shuster.

Elsewhere in Draw 10, Shuster (2-1) scored his second straight win with a 4-2 victory over Sweden's Team Niklas Edin (1-2).

Calgary's Team Brad Jacobs climbed to a 3-0 record with a 10-5 win against Scotland's Team James Craik (1-2).

"It feels relieving," Jacobs said. "Any time I think you can get those first three wins out of the way quickly in a Slam, it’s a great feeling because you know you’re probably going to be around and playing on the weekend, which is the first goal.

"I know that we’re all pretty happy with how we’ve played so far. We’ve gotten some breaks, we’ve taken advantage of those breaks, and hopefully, we can keep it rolling into tomorrow’s game."

Jacobs scored three sets of three-enders. However, it was Craik's raise triple takeout for three in the fifth that had the crowd roaring.

"To me, the scouting report says they like to score points and they’re not afraid to mix it up. We saw a little bit of that today," Jacobs said. "Being a good, young team like they are, I remember being much like them in our younger years and I would say that you probably are a little bit more fearless when you’re younger. Sometimes it can go your way and sometimes not.

"They made a really big shot — who knows, it could be shot of the week — in the fifth end there, and a good lesson for us to not leave them those types of shots."

Italy's Team Joël Retornaz (2-1) shut out Team Magnus Ramsfjell of Norway 8-0. Ramsfjell has been eliminated from the playoff picture at 0-3.

Retornaz was also looking to recover from a late loss Wednesday night to Craik as he gave up a stolen point in the eighth end to fall 4-3.

"It feels good because there wasn’t much we could do about last night today, so we just had to regroup and go hard and try to get the win today," Retornaz said. "I think we had a very good performance. The whole team performed very well, so we’re happy about today and the win, of course, is important."

Retornaz and Jacobs wrap up round-robin play going head-to-head Friday afternoon. For Jacobs, it'll be his first match against Retornaz since he joined forces with third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert. 

"It’s a heavyweight bout. I’m really looking forward to playing those guys," Jacobs said. "I feel like I’m good friends with all of them, including their coach Ryan Fry, but tomorrow that’ll all be set aside for a really intense game. Both teams are going to want to beat each other up and I’m really looking forward to that test for our team."

Both Retornaz and Jacobs praised the crowd, which has been cheering on all the players and not just hometown hero Brad Gushue. 

"It’s amazing. Curling needs these kinds of crowds," Retornaz said. "We know they all cheer for Brad Gushue’s team, and it’s fair enough, but they are all super nice to every other team. They give us a bunch of applause and they say hi to us before the games. They congratulate us after every game we play. The people in Newfoundland are amazing. St John’s is great." 

Jacobs, who played in the 2017 Brier at the venue, said the crowd is much better this time.

"I think maybe that has to do with they’ve been watching a lot of curling," Jacobs said. "This is a worldwide event, so there are lots of new faces here and different teams to cheer for, men and women, and it’s not so much feeling like Newfoundland versus the world. 

"The fans have been amazing and even when you come here during the games when Gushue’s team isn’t playing or isn’t on that draw, there are still a few fans in the crowd cheering good shots all over the sheets. They seem very well educated and that’s great to see."

UP NEXT

Round-robin play continues with Draw 11 at 4 p.m. NT / 2:30 p.m. ET.

Watch live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

NOTES

The Kioti National 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. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, one tiebreaker draw will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.