Scotland’s Team Whyte completed a magnificent run of ten successive wins to secure an automatic spot in the semi-finals of the LGT World Men’s Curling Championships in Utah, beating Switzerland 7-4 and Czechia 8-2 in contrasting games on the final day of the round-robin.
After finding themselves at the foot of the table on the opening day as the only team to have lost both matches, that winning streak left them in a share of top spot at the end of the round-robin stage of the competition, only pipped for number one seeding by seven time champions Sweden on the tie-breaking draw shot challenge table. 
Defending the title won for Scotland by compatriots Team Mouat last year, that earned Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Craig Waddell, Euan Kyle and alternate Duncan McFadzean a morning off as the other four qualifiers – Canada, Switzerland, USA and Italy – do battle in the quarter-finals and their skip exuded pride as he reflected on the achievement.
“After the first day we were sitting, looking up the table, bottom of the pack thinking that the quarter-finals would be brilliant and just trying to make it through,” said Whyte, with a wry laugh.
“The fact that we’ve gone undefeated since then shows the resilience in the team, how confident we are and how well we’re playing.
“So, to have things go our way and make it into the semi-finals is a great feeling and it saves us playing one more game, saves the bodies for everyone.”
Having won the vast majority of their matches with opponents conceding well before the last of the scheduled 10 ends, the crucial encounter on the final day was the meeting with Switzerland, with whom they were tied on eight wins and two losses at that point, both targeting the semis.
While they lost the pre-match last stone draw, which meant the Swiss started with the hammer and last stone advantage, the Scots were at their very best from the off, taking the lead at the second end and never being headed from that point.
With lead Euan Kyle shooting at 89 per cent efficiency through the match and all three of his teammates in the nineties, they could not pull away from their dogged opponents, however and when they went into the final end just one ahead, the Swiss once again holding last stone advantage, there was consequently the added pressure of the risk of losing a match they had largely dominated.
Danger loomed as guards began to pile up in front of the house, potentially favouring the Swiss, but a perfectly executed run back by Brydone, removing and replacing an opposing stone that was lying buried behind cover, shifted the balance.
A race to the button ensued before Whyte sent his first stone through the tiniest of ports to produce an extraordinary double takeout with less than half a stone to aim at, then put his second onto the button to count two and opposite number Philippe Hoesli was unable to pull off a spectacular attempt at a run back double takeout.
“That was a really tough game,” Whyte said of that 7-5 win.
“They played really well in the second half and put stones in really good spots, so to come out of that and win was really important.
“It felt like we were right in control for a lot of it and it just felt like they were hanging on, doing really well in not allowing us to get away from them and even though there were a couple of ends where we were sat really well, their skip flipped a couple of big hits.
“So, it was a bit annoying that we couldn’t shake them, but we did always feel in control and it was good to finish it off.”
They subsequently went on to complete the round-robin with an 8-2 win over Czechia in just six ends and Whyte was all the more pleased that they have shown they can win in different ways.
“We knew that if we won against Switzerland and won tonight that would secure us the spot in the semi-finals, so it felt really important to come out today, put in a really good shift and show everyone that we’re still right at the top of our game,” he said. 
“It felt nice to go the whole way against Switzerland and manage to come through with some big shots at the end for the team, some real team shots which showed we know what the ice is doing at the end of game, but we’ve also hopefully shown by finishing off some games early that we’re playing really well.”
They now wait to see whether they will face Canada, the only team that came into this event placed higher than Whyte’s men in the world rankings, or an Italy line-up that has Olympic mixed doubles gold medal winner Amos Mosaner in its ranks, in the semi-finals.
The Scots beat both in the round-robin stages and will go in with last stone advantage.
Their form is also reflected in the team having finished on top of the stats chart at the end of the round-robin with, potentially crucially, their skip sitting top among last stone throwers, but Whyte also knows both potential opponents need to be treated with the utmost respect.
“They are both very good teams and we know that whoever comes through will be firing and playing very well to make it to the semi-finals, so we’re just hoping that we’re better than them on the day,” he said.
“We’re feeling very confident and really pleased with how we’re playing though, so hopefully that continues into the rest of the week and we get the result we’re hoping for.”
Canada meet Italy at 4pm GMT, while the semi-final will get underway at 10pm GMT.
The championship takes place from March 27 to April 4 with all 13 competing nations meeting one another in round-robin competition before the top six go on to battle for the medals.
Scotland’s 12 rival nations are - Canada, China, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA
Please click here for more information about the LGT World Men’s Curling Championships in Ogden, USA (27 March – 4 April).
Watch all games on the Curling Channel
Day One – 27 March
Scotland – Sweden 5 - 6
Scotland – Japan 5 - 7
Day Two – 28 March
Scotland – Canada 8-3
Scotland – USA 6-4
Day Three – 29 March
Scotland – Poland 7-2
Day Four – 30 March
Scotland – Italy 9-3
Day Five – 31 March
Scotland – Korea 7-2
Scotland – Germany 10-4
Day Six – 1 April
Scotland – China 9-3
Scotland – Norway 7-5
Day Seven – 2 April
Scotland – Switzerland 7-5
Scotland – Czechia 8-2
Day Eight – 3 April
Semi finals – 10pm (GMT)
Images: Team Whyte, Ross Whyte image: World Curling
