A 7-5 defeat to Sweden ended Katie McMillan and Angus Bryce's ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship campaign in the first round of play-offs, but the Scottish youngsters had every reason to be proud of the way they performed on their debut in the event.
The quarter-final match got off to a disappointing start for them when they conceded four at the opening end, but they battled throughout and took the match to the final end before finally having to accept defeat when their bid to lie two and force the Swedes to deliver their final stone, was slightly off target.
"It was a bit of a blip at the first end, but we felt like anything can happen in mixed doubles, so we stuck together and made the most out of it," said McMillan.
"We got our two back in the second end and looked to stick to our processes and the foundations we've put down throughout the week and give ourselves a good chance." 
As they battled to get back into the game, a key point at the first end after the midway break saw a little known rule invoked because of highly unusual circumstances.
The end was blanked, not because no stones were in the house, but because neither the players, nor the referees could decide which of the team's stones was closest to the pin, both lying just millimetres away and unable to be measured using conventional apparatus.
While mixed doubles rules normally dictate that a blanked end sees the hammer (last stone advantage) transferred to the team that did not have it at the end that had just been completed, in the event of it being down to a tie between two stones on the ice, the team that had the hammer retains it.
That situation hugely favoured Sweden who, leading 6-3, were then able to use their powerplay at the sixth end and while the Scots managed to keep them to one at that end, it left them 7-3 down with only two ends in which to turn things around.
"The fifth end was a little bit of a turning point, because it felt like we were gaining a lot of momentum, playing pretty well and thought the hammer would be flipped," McMillan admitted.
"However, there's nothing much you can do, so we tried to make the best out of it having tried to either steal or force at that end.
"It was what it was and in their powerplay we managed to get a draw in the four foot against a couple, so we made the most out of it."
That was very much the theme of their entire campaign in which they turned things around magnificently after losing both their matches on a difficult second day, to reach the knockout stages by finishing in the top three in their 10 team pool and McMillan thanked their support team of coaches Michael Goodfellow and Niall Ryder as well as physio Alyssa Timoney for the contribution they made.
"This week has been a very good experience as our first major championship as a pair, so it's been good to get into the groove of things and I think we've both really enjoyed working with Mikey and Niall and Alyssa and making the most out of our debut," she said.
"After the second day we felt like our backs were against the wall a little bit, but then with the close win against Finland on day three we gained a bit of momentum and managed to get five great wins in a row.
"Even last night when we played against Italy, we thought we'd played pretty well, taking them to an extra end and we feel we've done ourselves proud.
“After that second day, if you'd said we'd make play-offs and keep it pretty close in the qualification game we would have been pretty happy with that.
"We'd have loved to have come away with a medal, but that's sport sometimes."
They now get a well deserved break before returning to the National Curling Academy in Stirling for pre-season training and McMillan believes they now have extra incentive to continue playing in both Olympic disciplines of four-player women's and men's team games, as well as mixed doubles.
"The success we've had in mixed doubles this year has been very encouraging and in both disciplines I feel like we're hoping to be very successful," she said.
"The World Mixed Doubles Championship is a wee bit earlier next season, so we maybe have to think about that at the start of the season, but hopefully we can do well again."
20 nations are taking part in The ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Championships: Italy, Scotland, Australia, Estonia, United States, Canada, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland, Korea, Japan, Germany, Denmark, Czechia, China, France, Hungary and the Netherlands.
Please click here for more information about the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, 25 April – 2 May, Geneva Switzerland.
Watch LIVE games on the Curling Channel.
Schedule and results:
Day 1 – 25 April
Scotland v USA – 12-2
Day 2 – 26 April
Scotland v Korea – 4-10
Scotland v Switzerland – 6-8
Day 3 – 27 April
Scotland v Finland – 8-7
Day 4 – 28 April
Scotland v Czechia – 9-2
Scotland v Canada – 8-5
Day 5 – 29 April
Scotland v Hungary – 11-5
Day 6 – 30 April
Scotland v Germany – 8-2
Scotland v Italy – 8-10 (EE)
Day 7 – 1 May
Qualifications - 0900 GMT
Scotland v Sweden -5-7
Semi Finals – 1800 GMT
Day 8 – 2 May
Bronze – 0900 GMT
Gold – 1300 GMT
