Winning momentum so vital to Mouat glory bid

Bruce Mouat has urged his team to be ruthless as they secured a guaranteed medal match with their fifth straight win in the Olympic men’s curling.

The British skip knows battles with Sweden’s Niklas Edin are always close affairs, losing to the five-time global champion – who was previously unbeaten in Beijing – at last year’s world final in Calgary.

But a narrow 7-6 victory was enough to gain revenge and book Mouat’s rink a place in the semi-finals, regardless of results against the Russian team and Canada in their concluding round-robin matches.

However, victories will be key both for momentum and to give Team GB the advantage of the hammer – the last stone – in their semi-final.

“It was a really important win. We knew that we were close to getting a qualification spot, so it feels great to get that sorted,” said European champion Mouat.

“We just wanted to come out and secure it before two tough games against Russia and China and to beat a team like Sweden in the round robins is going to give us a big mental edge.

“We just need to keep that winning streak going now. The goal from the round robin is to get into the semi-final and to have hammer would be the best opportunity for us to win the match. I think it increases our win percentage to 30% – it makes a massive difference, so we must keep winning.”

Mouat has already lost one semi-final and bronze medal game at these Games, leaving the mixed doubles with partner Jen Dodds empty-handed, despite arriving in China as defending world champions.

It was a disappointment it took a few days to get over but he seems to be growing in confidence with every game, as the rink seek to improve on the performance of coach David Murdoch, who skipped Britain to Olympic silver in Sochi eight years ago.

“It feels like we’ve been steadily building as the week goes on, I think that’s the most complete performance so far and it feels even better against a top team like Sweden,” said Grant Hardie.

“All four of us really turned up which was great to see in such a big game.”

Bruce Mouat led Team GB to victory over Sweden.