ROUND ROBIN EXIT FOR SCOTLAND AT 2023 WORLD MIXED CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
A young Scotland team of Jack Strawhorn, Amy Mitchell, Kaleb Johnston, and Kirsty Gallacher took on the 2023 World Mixed Curling Championship on home ice at Curl Aberdeen. Despite a good outing overall, some unlucky moments here and there meant they missed out on the play-off on a three-in-five record.
Full team reactions are available here.
GAME OF TWO HALVES SEES SCOTS MISS OUT VERSUS ISRAEL (ISR 7 – 4 SCO)
Scotland just missed out versus Israel as their final fixture of the championship turned into a game of two halves. The Scots led for the most part, but Alex Pokras’ side turned things around with a big eighth end.
‘In the first half we really controlled the scoreboard, played a simple game and managed to stay quite well up. It was still close though, we were leading 3-1. In the second half we gave up a steal of two which then hurt us a little bit. We just weren’t able to seal the deal, unfortunately, for that game,’ said Kaleb.
A single score to open the match followed by two successive steals had Scotland storm into an early lead. With Israel only able to respond with a single themselves, things looked under control for the Scots at the break.
The second half started with a blank, but the first indication of Israel’s comeback followed. They got a stolen two on the board, the first multiscore of the game, and suddenly it was all square again. Scotland were held to a single in the penultimate end and went into a tense finale, one point up but without hammer. Israel peaked in that last end, scoring a massive four and snatching victory at the death.
Reflecting on how the team has developed over the course of the championship, Kaleb said: ‘We’re definitely more confident after a full week of curling together. It was difficult, never having played together before, so we needed to find our feet – having had a couple of stronger teams early on didn’t help. But we definitely found the groove and made it work.
‘The World Mixed gave us a lot of confidence going into the Scottish Juniors – the Juniors are held here in Aberdeen in three weeks time. We don’t really play in Aberdeen before the Juniors usually, so having a good feel, seeing how the stones run and how the ice behaves gives us a lot of confidence and quite a good insight. Hopefully, that will give us a little bit of an advantage.’
STRONG FINISH EARNS SCOTS WIN OVER IRELAND IN PENULTIMATE GAME (SCO 7 – 3 IRL)
Ireland gave Scotland a good run for their money, but the Scots had the upper hand in the late stages to clinch the win in their penultimate game. The game was tight and low-scoring for the best part until Scotland played a big seventh end to get the better of Brian Mathews’ side.
Although Ireland went into the game with hammer, the Scots prevailed in End 1 with a single steal. A score of two briefly gave the Irish the lead, but it was swiftly all square again. Scotland reclaimed the lead with a one-point score, making it 3-2 at the break.
The sides traded singles at the restart, doing nothing to change the gap. However, Scotland took control of proceedings in End 7 with a big three points that extended their lead to four with one end to go. Ireland soon admitted defeat without the final stones thrown.
‘We set up the end well and capitalised on a few misses as well,’ Kirsty said about that decisive seventh. ‘It was close in the first half, but we still managed to keep calm and keep up the pressure with the tight score. We just stayed in control and made our shots and focussed on our delivery.
‘It’s our last game later on, so we’ll just go and have some fun, hopefully make our shots, and finish the championship on a win.’
SCOTTISH SPIRITS HIGH IN DOMINANT SHOW VERSUS NETHERLANDS (SCO 8 – 1 NED)
Scotland’s mission to finish the championship strong is on course following an excellent game versus Netherlands. Early steals gave the Scots an advantage over Bart Klomp’s side and they never surrendered it.
Despite losing out on draw shot and going into the game without hammer, Scotland got off to a fulminant start. The Scots stole deuces consecutively in the first three ends and forced Netherlands to one in the fourth, meaning they went into the break with a 6-1 advantage.
Scotland opened the second half with a single score and subsequently stole one to further stretch the gap. With the scoreboard reading 8-1 in Scottish favour, the Dutch team opted to shake hands with two ends to spare.
‘We got on top of draw weight early, had a really simple game, and managed to capitalise on a couple of misses. We had quite a clinical performance in the first four ends – I don’t think we had any missed shots – and just managed to see the game out for the last two ends,’ said Kaleb who was celebrating not only the victory but also his birthday.
‘Yeah, I turn 21 today,’ he continued. ‘I think team morale was pretty good. We had a long day off, a little bit of time to celebrate and just sit down together as a team. We definitely felt a lot different out there on the ice. We were really relaxed and I think that helped the game.
‘If we play like we did in that game there, we should be really confident [for the two games ahead]. Obviously, that brings us to the end of the round robin. So hopefully, we’ll go out and get two wins from the last two games; that would be great, to finish on a four in four record. For our first time at the championship, that would be really great, I think we’d all be very happy with that.’
STEALS GIVE SWEDEN UPPER HAND IN INITIALLY TIGHT MATCH (SWE 8 – 3 SCO)
Undefeated Sweden got the better of Scotland in what was a tight game for the most part. Steals in Ends 4 and 5 gave Johan Nygren’s side an advantage that the Scots never managed to recover from. With another unlucky loss, Scotland drop to a one in four record.
‘We started the game really strong, forced them to ones and took two,’ Scott reflected on the match. ‘From there, we probably controlled the first half of the game, unfortunately got into a little bit of trouble in the fourth end and gave up the steal. And that was the swing in the game; after that we just didn’t really get things going and struggled a little bit with draw weight.’
Indeed, Sweden followed their two-points steal in End 4 up with another stolen deuce at the restart to increase their advantage to six points to two. Scotland retaliated with a one to just about keep their chance alive. However, when the Swedes scored two in turn, the Scots opted to shake hands with an end to spare.
With the previous game played at 8am the day before and this one at 8pm, the team faced a massive break between ice-times. ‘Without a doubt, 36 hours off is never easy for anyone,’ Scott conceded. ‘But the team came out firing the first couple of ends; they were definitely up for the game.
‘We’ve got to bounce back – Netherlands next; again, it’s another 24 hours off, we don’t play again until tomorrow night. So that’s a lot of downtime to reflect on the game and talk with the team. We’ve still got three games left to finish the championship strong.’
TOUGH DEFEAT FOR SCOTS DESPITE EXCELLENT GAME VERSUS JAPAN (JPN 8 – 7 SCO)
Halfway through the round robin, Scotland sit on a one in three record following a tough defeat to Japan. The Scots managed to bounce back from a massive four-points score from Kawano Kantaro’s side in End 5 to make it all square with one to go. But Japan clinched a crucial point to snatch victory.
‘We had a tight first half,’ Amy said. ‘We were unlucky to lose the four, but we created a chance in the sixth end for a three, we put them quite under pressure in the seventh end for the steal, and we played a really good last end and made the draw to the four foot.’
Japan scored two in the opening end to put on pressure from the off, but Scotland handled things well and trailed by only a single point at the break. However, the Japanese dealt a massive punch at the restart with a big four points going their way.
Scotland suddenly faced a five points deficit, but, rather than despair, an excellent comeback followed. They scored two with hammer in End 6 and really made End 7 count with a three-points steal. With one to go, it was all square again. Japan crashed the fairytale recovery though when they, coming down with hammer, scored a crucial point at the death to snatch victory in a rollercoaster game.
‘The team’s all feeling good; there’s been a good team morale and we’re looking forward to the second half of the round robin.’ With a big break until the next fixture tomorrow night, Amy said they’ll use the time to ‘study, relax, and sleep [laughingly].’
AULD ENEMY ENGLAND CLAIMS WIN WITH DOMINANT LAST END (SCO 3 – 8 ENG)
Scotland collected their second defeat of tournament and face some must win games now. Although the Scots recovered from an early disadvantage against England, the last end went away from them and Anna Fowler’s side claimed the win with a three-points steal.
Going into the game with hammer, England blanked the first two ends. However, they made up for the lack of points thus far in End 3 when they got a big three points on the board and forced Scotland to chase. At this point, the Scots could only respond with a single and went into the break with a two-points deficit.
‘[At half time] we knew we had to tighten up on the ice we were giving and just make more shots and basically hand things over to the sweepers more and let them work away,’ said Jack post-match.
Scotland indeed came out strong at the restart, getting the force and then scoring two themselves. When they once more managed to force England to a single, the Scots suddenly were well back in contention, two points behind but coming down with hammer. The last end went decidedly against them though and instead of a perfect comeback, it was a formidable finale for the English who stole three to take the win.
‘The feeling [going into the last end] was actually pretty hopeful. We were playing well in the ends beforehand, so we thought we had at least half a chance to get two or even a three. It just didn’t quite work out in the end,’ Jack said.
‘This was still a game we finished well and hopefully we can carry that form into tomorrow – we just need to start like that!’
SCOTLAND STORM OVER WALES TO END DAY 1 WITH VICTORY (SCO 11 – 0 WAL)
Scotland bounced back in style and bagged a dominant win over fellow home nation Wales. The Scots took points in four consecutive ends before the break and allowed Adrian Meikle’s side no way back into the game.
‘It was a good feeling on the ice; positive and a lot better than this morning’s game,’ said Kirsty. ‘Everyone was quite happy. We made more shots and gelled more as a team – the communication was better and louder and everything just went smoother.’
Going into the game with hammer, Scotland were first on the board with a two-points score and followed it up with a single steal. They went on to deal some significant blows with four and three-points steals in the next two ends to lead by 10 at the break.
Wales limited the damage at the restart with a blank but the Scots were right back on it with a single steal an end later. Eventually, the Welsh conceded with only the minimum six ends in the books.
‘It’s good to be able to bounce back from this morning’s game and learn more from that. We’ll see how the week goes on – one in one record after the first day, we’ll take it. We’re up against England tomorrow; we’ve beaten one home nation now, two more to go!’
OPENING DEFEAT FOR SCOTLAND V HIGH-SCORING BELGIUM (BEL 6 – 3 SCO)
A second half comeback was not quite enough for Scotland to recover from an early big score from Belgium. Timo Verreycken’s side got a three on the board in the second end, forcing the Scots to chase from the get-go.
‘We got off to a slow start,’ Kaleb conceded post-match. ‘We lost a big end but managed to bounce back with a good blank in the third. Coming into half time, a couple of good comments from our coach got us firing back in the second half. It was good scoring two ends back-to-back, that gave us a bit of hope going into the last two ends, but unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side today.’
Scotland started the fixture with a single steal, but Belgium swiftly claimed the upper hand with a three-points score in End 2. The standings read 4-1 in Belgian favour at half time, but the Scots came out swinging at the restart. Scoring and subsequently stealing singles, they cut the gap to just one point and got themselves back into the game.
However, Belgium retaliated with two in End 7, giving Scotland a mountain to climb in the final end. They soldiered on but eventually admitted defeat without the last stones played.
With a busy season already well underway, they team didn’t have much time to prepare together ahead of the World Mixed. ‘It’s definitely tough,’ Kaleb commented on the lack of joint ice time. ‘Thankfully, I’ve curled with Jack for the last five or six years, so I can tell how Jack feels quite well.
‘Me and Amy got to go to Sweden for the mixed doubles, so I’ve had a couple of events with her as well. But unfortunately, I’ve never played any games with Kirsty. So it’s a bit tough, the front end never having played together. But we definitely got better as the game progressed, so hopefully we can lean onto that for the rest of the tournament.’
‘There’s still many more round robin games to come. It’s never great losing the first game, you want to start off strong, but it gives us something to strive for. We now know we’ll need to win a couple of extra games and try to finish in that top three to qualify. There’s definitely some tough teams in our section, but nothing’s for certain. So we’ll just try our best and get our heads down and focus for the rest of the week.’
SCOTLAND AT #WMxCC2023
Scotland is being represented by Jack Strawhorn, Amy Mitchell, Kaleb Johnston, and Kirsty Gallacher on home ice at Curl Aberdeen with Scott Andrews as their coach for the week. A full preview is available here.
Group Fixtures:
Saturday 14th, 8.00, versus Belgium
Saturday 14th, 16.00, versus Wales
Sunday 15th, 16.00, versus England
Monday 16th, 8.00, versus Japan
Tuesday 17th, 20.00, versus Sweden
Wednesday 18th, 20.00, versus Netherlands
Thursday 19th, 12.00, versus Ireland
Thursday 19th, 20.00, versus Israel
