DODDS AND MOUAT FACE NORWAY AGAIN AS THEY BID TO MAKE FURTHER HISTORY

Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat will face another re-match of last season’s World Championship final in their bid to guarantee themselves an Olympic medal when they meet Norway in the semi-finals in Beijing’s Ice Cube.

The Team GB pair got the better of Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nordegrotten in that final in Aberdeen last May, however they have met twice since with the Norwegian husband and wife partnership prevailing both times, so they know they will have to battle all the way to reach the Olympic final.

As the first British players to win the World Mixed Doubles title and the first to represent Team GB in this discipline at the Olympics, Dodds and Mouat are aiming to join the select band who have won Olympic curling medals and know the ultimate title is now just two wins away.

While they have lost both meetings with the Norwegians since the World Championship clash, the most recent of those in the penultimate match of this round-robin competition, Dodds said they were relishing the prospect of trying to put that right.

“It’s so exciting and I just can’t wait to get back on the ice,” she said.

“Norway are a great team, but we’ve got this opportunity and we need to go out and perform like we can.

“Obviously we didn’t play our best against them last night, but after today’s performance against the USA, I think we can take a lot of confidence into tonight’s game. It will be a battle, but if we go out and play like we did there, that’s all we can ask for.”

The exit of defending champions Canada on a measure at an extra end to Italy, who preserved their unbeaten record to set up a meeting with Sweden in the other semi-final, demonstrated just how competitive the event has been throughout.

“We said at the beginning of the week that all 10 teams had a reasonable chance of qualifying for the play-offs and there was going to be disappointment for six teams. You just had to be on point the entire week and we’re just really fortunate that we started off strong against Sweden and Canada and then held our momentum sufficiently to make the play-offs.”

The British pair completed their round-robin campaign with a hard-fought win over the USA pairing of Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys that had already been eliminated, but were determined to finish the right way.

Having conceded last stone advantage at the opening end, Dodds and Mouat stole a three which suggested they might be in line for a reasonably comfortable win and they stretched that to 5-1 by the midway break.

They then seemed to be in control at the first end after the resumption, in spite of their opponents opting to take their powerplay, when Mouat powered an American guard onto two shots in the house to remove all three in play, but Persinger produced a fine double takeout with her final stone to breathe new hope into her team.

Dodds was then marginally off target with an attempted hit and roll at the next, allowing the Americans to steal yet closer at 5-4.

Team GB then took their powerplay and while a brilliant double takeout by Persinger with her final stone applied some pressure, Dodds’ draw pulled up just in time to take a two shot advantage down the last where British accuracy prevailed, bringing them another two shots to register an 8-4 win.

While it was a closer match than that final scoreline suggested, Mouat was very satisfied with the way they had performed through the match.

“I was particularly pleased with our control of the four foot,” he said.

“We put a lot of stones in good spots to put them under pressure. Our draw weight was on point today and that’s exactly what you need in mixed doubles."