Scotland will be playing for gold at the BKT World Men’s Curling Championship at Temple Garden Centre, while Team Canada has been relegated to the bronze medal game.
It came down to the last shot of the 10th end, but Scotland defeated Canada 7-4 in their semifinal game on Saturday night.
“If we went out and laid an egg and played terribly, I’d probably be fuming, but we played well and they made a couple more shots than us,” said Canada lead Ben Hebert.
“They’re a good team and it’s about 50/50 when we play them for a reason. They’re a good team and we almost had them. We were pinched for time a bit there at the end and had to rush a couple of shots and calls, but yeah, we played well.”
Despite a record of 8-4 in the round robin, Scotland skip Bruce Mouat said they are peaking at the right time after having to win the qualification game earlier in the day against Sweden.
“We may not have had our best week, but we definitely had our best games today against Sweden and against Canada,” Mouat said.
For finishing in first place in the round robin, Canada had the choice of rocks and the hammer to start the game. With Mouat's first shot, he froze to Canada's rock in the back four-foot. Canada skip Brad Jacobs, with his first, picked it out to lay one. Mouat played another freeze with his last shot. Jacobs made the draw with his last rock for the single point and the early lead.
A missed run-back by the Scots opened the door for Canada in the second end as they were able to bury two rocks behind centre guards. Scotland was able to open up the centre line for skip rocks. With Jacobs' first, he nailed a double takeout to lay two. Mouat responded with his own double to lay two for Scotland. Jacobs missed a double to set up a blank end, giving Mouat an open draw for two.
Scotland had a rock sitting back of the button in the third end. Jacobs froze to it with his first to try and generate some points. Mouat picked it out with his final rock, leaving Jacobs a draw for one to tie the game 2-2.
With a lone Scottish rock in the house for Jacobs' first stone of the fourth end, he was able to hit and roll under cover without last rock. With light weight, Mouat navigated through a port to remove Jacobs' rock to sit one. Jacobs duplicated the shot and left Mouat an open hit for the blank end.
Jacobs was able to make a hit and roll with his last rock to get partially under cover in the fifth end. However, Mouat was able to see enough to hit and roll out for another blank, keeping the game tied 2-2 at the break.
Without last rock in the sixth, Jacobs came through a port but over-curled on the takeout, leaving Scotland laying two. Mouat removed the lone Canadian rock in the house. He rolled out of the rings but was still sitting two. Jacobs tried to freeze to a Scottish rock in the back eight-foot but came up short. Mouat tapped the Canadian rock back but rolled out to score two.
Mouat took out a Canadian rock with his first stone of the seventh end. Jacobs made a double to sit two with his first. Mouat made a flat double with big weight. The Canadian rock barely stayed in the rings. Jacobs made an unbelievably long double takeout to score his two and tie it up 4-4.
Sitting shot rock in the eighth, Jacobs was able to hit and stick to sit two. Mouat decided to draw around the centre guard to get shot rock but came up heavy and ended up as second shot. Jacobs drew to the four-foot, and Mouat tapped it back to score one.
Mouat's first rock in the ninth end tried to come around the centre guard but over-curled. Jacobs made the takeout and rolled away with his first. Mouat made the takeout, and Jacobs removed the stone to blank the ninth, holding on to the hammer down 5-4 heading into the 10th.
Third Marc Kennedy tried a light takeout that jammed in the back to give Scotland shot rock. Mouat drew to the top four-foot to lay two, and Canada called a timeout, looking to score two. Jacobs, with the angle-raise takeout on his first, gave Canada shot rock in the back of the four-foot, and Scotland called their timeout. Jacobs tried a triple takeout for the win and missed, giving Scotland the 7-4 victory.
“We’re always going to play for the win there. I think we know the odds are stacked against us playing Scotland in an extra end, especially when Bobby Lammie makes every double peel in the world. He’s very, very good at that, so yeah, we were close,” Jacobs said about the shot call instead of playing for the tie and an extra end.
China vs. Switzerland
Switzerland started the game with the hammer and opened with two points.
China blanked the second and third ends and drew in to score one in the fourth.
In the third, Switzerland's last rock bent inside just enough to score two and take a 4-1 lead. Switzerland then stole two more in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-1.
China settled for one in the seventh end by drawing to the side of the button. Switzerland responded with a single in the eighth to make it 7-2. China scored one in the ninth, and it was handshakes as Switzerland moved to the gold medal game with a 7-3 win.
Canada and China will play for the bronze medal at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning, with the gold medal game between Scotland and Switzerland at 7 p.m.