News National

NORTH BAY, Ont. — Bruce Mouat needed to be on the mark with his final shot against Yannick Schwaller’s Swiss squad, and the Scottish skip came through in the clutch and onto the button to secure a 7-5 victory during Draw 7 action Wednesday in the Boost National.

Mouat improved to a 1-1 round-robin record with two more preliminary games on the docket at the season-opening Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event taking place at Memorial Gardens.

“It was nice,” said Mouat, who has won five Grand Slam titles and is the reigning Pinty’s Cup men’s champion. “Obviously, we love coming to the Slams. It was a really tough game against Schwaller there. Luckily, I had to draw to win. I’m pretty proud of how we played and it’s just nice to be back here and winning games.”

Team Mouat has an unorthodox setup this week as Bobby Lammie is nursing a broken hand. Lammie is still throwing second stones, however, he has moved into the house all other times as Mouat has picked up sweeping duties.

“He’s just struggling a wee bit with his grip, so it’s not able to sweep, but he’s at least able to throw, which is good,” Mouat said. “We weren’t sure he was even going to be able to play. We thought we were three-man for the week, but thankfully we arrived here and he was able to throw the stone and peel, which is obviously the one that you’re testing out.

“He’s fine. Obviously, a bit bruised but he’ll be fine for [the next Grand Slam], hopefully.”

Fortunately, Mouat knows a thing or two about sweeping and credits playing mixed doubles with Jennifer Dodds for being able to handle the extra workload.

“It kind of gives me some confidence that I’m not the worst sweeper, which is nice,” said Mouat, who won the mixed doubles world championship in 2021 and finished fourth at this year’s Winter Olympic Games. “A lot of skips get bad reps for not being able to sweep. Hopefully, I’m changing the mentality of that a wee bit.

“Mixed doubles is a lot of fun with Jen. Just seeing how she throws it and hopefully, I’ll bring [those skills] into the men’s game. I’m not feeling too tired yet but hopefully, I’ll feel similar to this later on in the week.”

Schwaller (0-2) converted for a deuce in the first and Mouat matched by taking two points in the third. After Schwaller was held to a single in the fourth, Mouat was able to hang a crooked number on the board with a crucial three-ender in the fifth.

“It was really important,” Mouat said. “It was the fifth end, so we weren’t actually going too hard to score but then it kind of developed in a way that was looking all right. We made two pretty decent shots to force them and had that tap for the three, which was swept and judged perfectly.

“Obviously, it’s a new lineup, so we’re still trying to figure out everyone’s new roles. I’m just really glad we got over the line with that one.”

A steal in the sixth made it a 6-3 advantage for Mouat, but Schwaller closed within one by getting another two points in the seventh to set up a nervous finale.

Korey Dropkin and his American club also picked up their first win of the tournament with a 5-3 victory over Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte (5-3).

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Team Michael Brunner and Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin both moved up to 2-0 records thanks to extra-end wins.

Brunner scored a deuce in OT for a 9-7 decision over Canada’s Team Matt Dunstone while Edin picked up a point to solve Canada’s Team Reid Carruthers 7-6.

Dunstone and Carruthers, whose teams are both based in Winnipeg, are now level at 1-1 records.

UP NEXT

The Boost National action continues with Draw 8 at 8 p.m. ET.

Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 12 p.m. ET on Sportsnet, SN NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

Round-robin play runs through to Friday as teams play four games against teams outside of their pool. The top eight overall, regardless of pools, advance to Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for Saturday evening and both finals are on tap for Sunday.

NOTES

The Boost National is the first of six events on the 2022-23 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling calendar and features 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A combined $300,000 purse, split equally between the men’s and women’s divisions, is on the line. The winning teams receive $35,000 and invitations to the season-ending Kioti Tractor Champions Cup. … Points are also up for grabs in the race for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the 2022-23 season champions with a $75,000 bonus for the winning teams.