World men’s curling: Canada loses to Scotland in heavyweight battle

Article content

It was a heavyweight battle between two of the top teams in the world on Monday afternoon at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Moose Jaw.

Article content

Article content

And in the end, it was No. 1 ranked Bruce Mouat and Team Scotland beating No. 3 ranked Brad Jacobs and Team Canada 6-5 in an extra end in front of a packed house at the Temple Gardens Centre. With the win, Scotland improved to 4-0 while Canada fell to 3-1.

Article content

“We were saying it was the best Monday afternoon crowd we’ve ever seen,” said Team Canada lead Ben Hebert, a Regina product. “I can’t say enough about the crowd getting behind us and the big roars when we’re making our shots.”

Down 5-3 in the final end, Canada had the crowd on its feet when Jacobs made a runback triple takeout to potentially score three.

The Canadian skip made the shot, but the shooter rolled just a hair too far as Canada was forced to settle for two points to tie the game before losing in the extra end.

“Just on contact, (it missed by) half an inch or we get three,” Hebert said of the potential game-winning shot. “Threw it close and hell of a shot for two and would have been amazing for three.”

“It was very close,” added Jacobs. “I don’t think you could get any closer.

“The shot was probably there to stick that that shooter back for three and get all three of theirs going. So anytime you have a shot to win the game is great. You’d hope that it’s a little easier than a run triple, but we still made the run triple, just couldn’t hold the shooter.

Article content

Article content

“But that was still an exciting shot and nice to force an extra end and keep those guys on their toes.”

Against the 2023 world champions, Canada opened the scoring with a single point in the first end before giving up three points to Scotland in the second end after Jacobs narrowly missed a thin double takeout.

After Canada responded with a deuce in the third to tie the game 3-3, the teams blanked the next four ends before Scotland was forced to a single point in the eighth.

In the ninth, after Mouat made a nice shot to sit three with his last, Jacobs decided to play a double takeout and concede a steal of one, instead of potentially drawing for a single point, which would have tied the game, meaning Canada would need a steal in the final end.

Following the game, the skip explained the rationale.

“When you’re having to steal against a really great team like that, you look at the statistics and how often that team wins with hammer tied; it’s not looking good,” said Jacobs. “And it’s still not looking good when you’re down two, but at least when you hold the last rock in your hand and you maybe have a shot for the win, that’s a much better feeling.”

Article content

After generating the deuce to send the game to extra ends, Scotland third Grant Hardie made a nice double takeout with his last, while Mouat cleaned up the rest of Jacobs’ draw attempts grab one point and the win.

“I think that we struggled early with the ice conditions,” said Jacobs. “We saw a little bit more curl out there; which is really nice by the way.

“It’s been pretty straight and fast. And today we saw a little bit more curl. And we also saw the brooms doing a little bit more work, especially on helping rocks curl. So, we’ll learn from that.

“We didn’t have the greatest first five (ends), but we had a really strong second half, and I think that as long as we can carry that into tomorrow, we’ll be in a good head space.”

While Canada suffered its first loss of the tournament, at 3-1 they still appear to be poised to be one of the top six teams to make the playoff round, which begins Saturday.

Article content

And Hebert would love another crack at top-ranked Scotland in the playoffs.

“I’d love to play them again,” said Hebert. “I’d love to play them every game. I like playing them. We’re definitely as good as they are, so no qualms about playing them.

“We’re not looking to get softballs at the world championships; that’s why it’s the world championships so I want to play the best teams, and hopefully we get a chance to play them again.”

As for the remaining round robin games, Canada will now take on defending champion Niklas Edin and Team Sweden on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. before facing Joel Retornaz and Team Italy at 7 p.m.

And the Canadians are hoping to continue to get the crowd support they’ve been getting so far through three days of the championship.

“Even after we made the shot in 10 to force an extra end, I went back to our bench and I said, ‘Is this any fun?’” said Jacobs. “Getting the crowd going like that and playing Scotland and in a full barn on a Monday afternoon is a pretty spectacular thing.

“We’ll regroup. We’re three and one. We’re still in a great spot. That was only the fourth game of the round robin, and we tried to keep that in perspective out there. Just continue to stay loose.”

tshire@postmedia.com

Article content