Eve Muirhead and Bobby Lammie completed their round-robin campaign at the World Mixed Doubles Championship with a 100% record after defeating Spain 10-3 in their ninth and final match to head into the semi-finals brimming with confidence.
In a week of competition not one of the nine matches played by the Scottish pair has gone the distance as they finished clear at the top of the Group B standings with the competition’s only 100 per cent record.
The performance has been all the more impressive because they are simultaneously making their debut in an overseas mixed doubles competition, yet they had the additional pressure of going into it as defending champions courtesy of the victory claimed by compatriots and Olympic teammates Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat last year. 
They are consequently entitled to a deep sense of satisfaction at the way they have carried that responsibility as they re-set their sights on the knockout stages of the competition.
“Securing that number one spot, straight to the semis shows that we’re playing at a pretty high level and hopefully we can keep that momentum going into the play-offs,” said Lammie.
“We feel ready for the play-offs, we’re in a good spot, but obviously it’s like a new competition now.
“When it’s knockout stages you have to treat every game fresh. We’ll be playing Sweden or Germany and whoever comes through that will be a pretty tough game, so we need to be ready for that.”
He said, however, that they will not be trying to do anything differently in the next phase.
“If we just keep trying to do what we do best, get the set-up right and keep our draw weight pretty strong then we’ll have a good chance, so hopefully we can keep that going,” Lammie continued.
“Confidence is obviously high. We know we can beat anyone out there, so we just have to keep doing our own thing and the wins will come hopefully.”
The depth of quality within the field means that avoiding having to play in the first round of play-off matches is a considerable bonus, albeit Lammie acknowledged that their next round opponents could gain a slight benefit from additional ice time.
“Having the morning off will definitely be nice,” he said.
“Maybe the only disadvantage is that the other teams might be able to get a slightly better read of the ice in the morning, but we’ll be coming into the semi-final fresh, motivated and ready to go.”
Scotland Mixed Doubles Team
Eve Muirhead
Bobby Lammie
Broadcast games will be shown on The Curling Channel in partnership with Recast.
Friday 29 April - Qualifier 1 (TSN1, RDS, Peacock and Olympic Channel). Qualifier 2 (TSN1, RDS, Peacock and Olympic Channel), Semi-final 1 (TSN1/4, RDS, Peacock and Olympic Channel), Semi-final 2 (TSN4, RDS, Peacock and Olympic Channel)
Saturday 30 April - Bronze medal game (TSN1, RDS, Peacock and Olympic Channel), Gold medal game (Swiss TV, TSN1, RDS, Peacock and Olympic Channel)
Schedule for World Mixed Doubles Championships 23-30 April – Geneva, Switzerland
Saturday 23 April
Scotland – England 8-3
Sunday 24 April
Scotland – Australia 9-4
Scotland – Czech Republic 9-3
Monday 25 April
Scotland – Canada 8-4
Tuesday 26 April
Scotland – Germany 8-4
Scotland – USA 7-2
Wednesday 27 April
Scotland – Hungary 10-4
Thursday 28 April
Scotland – Turkey 10-2
Scotland – Spain 10-3
Friday 29 April
Qualification game A2 – B3
Qualification game B2 – A3
Semi final B1-A2/B3
Semi final A1 – B2/A3
Saturday 30 April
Bronze medal game
Gold medal game
#curling #WMDCC2022
