After an early setback on the crucial second day of play at the FISU World University Games (WUGS) in Torino, Robyn Munro and Orrin Carson claimed victories over fellow play-off contenders Canada and Italy to move within range of the semi-finals.
The GB Students pair came out of the day as they had begun, sharing top spot in the standings, but only after suffering a hefty defeat against Germany in their first match of the day.
Steals of two at the second and third ends had helped the Germans, who had, like Munro and Carson, also won both their matches on the opening day, into a 5-0 lead and that proved an insurmountable advantage as they ran out 10-4 winners. 
“It was a tough start against Germany, but I guess you could just put that down to our slow start and going behind early against a team that’s performing well, which is never easy,” Munro admitted.
“We just gave ourselves too much work to do, so we managed to have a good fourth end scoring three, but it wasn’t enough when they still had their powerplay left.”
That result turned up the pressure as they headed into their encounter with Canada, who had won their first three matches, but aware as they were that their chances of staying in play-off contention were on the line with hosts Italy still to meet later in the day, the British pair responded superbly.
The Canadians looked to have the upper hand early on when they stole two at the opening end, but after levelling at the next, Munro and Carson managed a vital steal of their own at the third.
The teams forced one another at each of the next two ends and while the Canadians reclaimed the lead when they used their powerplay to score two at the sixth end, the response was decisive as the British powerplay produced a score of three and a two shot advantage, which meant a force at the final end was enough to secure a 7-6 win.
“We came into this day knowing we had three play-off contenders and that we’d be happy walking away with two wins and a loss,” said Munro.
“Obviously, losing the first game we were pretty determined to bounce back and we just played a controlled and confident game against Canada.
“It was a really tight match and that made it really satisfying to grind that one out when we knew it mattered so much to the standings, as we went forward with the rest of the day, especially with a tough game against Italy in our final match.”
With Italy getting the better of Japan in that round of matches while Germany suffered a surprise defeat to Norway, that meant there was a four team tie for top spot heading into the day’s third and final round of matches.
While they fell behind at the opening end once again, forcing their opponents to take just one was an encouraging start and after scoring two at the second, their dominance was rewarded with steals at the next three ends, before they wrapped up a 9-3 win with a powerplay four at the seventh end.
“We just tried to maintain our momentum and we knew we still had stuff to build on from the Canada game which I feel we really bought into in the game against Italy and we just came out firing from the start,” said Munro.
“After we forced them at the first, then got our two at the second we never really looked back, putting them under a lot of pressure and things worked in our favour.”
They now face Japan and Norway on the last day of round-robin play knowing that victory in either will secure a play-off place, while winning both would guarantee finishing in first or second place, which would give them last stone advantage in the semi-finals.
“We feel like we’re really building with every game and taking all the learnings and just getting comfortable working with each other and the ice and it feels like we’re in a really good spot, so hopefully we can secure that play-off spot tomorrow,” said Munro.
Schedule:
Saturday 11 January
MD1
GB – USA 7-6
MD2
GB – Switzerland 8-5
Sunday 12 January
MD3
GB – Germany 4-10
MD4
GB – Canada 7-6
MD5
GB – Italy 9-3
Monday 13 January
MD6 – 09.00
GB – Japan
MD7 – 13.00
GB – Norway
Tuesday 14 January
08.00 Semi Final 1
12.00 Semi Final 2
16.00 Bronze Medal Game
19.00 Gold Medal Game
GB Students Mixed Doubles Team
Robyn Munro (University of Strathclyde)
Orrin Carson (Dumfries and Galloway College)
Mixed Doubles Coach: Scott Andrews
Head Coach: Nancy Smith
Please click here for results.
Images: Jack Hodgetts
