Scotland’s Team Whyte suffered a cruel defeat in the semi-finals of the LFT Men’s World Championship as their Canadian opponents rallied late in the match to pull off a 9-7 win that took them into a final against seven time champions Sweden.
Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Craig Waddell, Euan Kyle and alternate Duncan McFadzean were left to try to regroup and prepare for a meeting with hosts the USA, but it had not looked like it would go that way for most of the encounter with the Canadians.
The Scots made the ideal start, scoring two at the opening end, where they had last stone advantage and their opponents were still chasing the game when they produced a perfect sixth end to move into a 5-3 lead.
However, the match dramatically changed direction at the next, where the Canadians found their best form to generate a three and claim the lead for the first time. 
The teams then exchanged twos at the next two ends before, as they got into difficulties while pushing for the two that would avoid going into extra time, the Scots conceded a steal under pressure at the last, throwing their last stone with just four seconds left on the time clock.
Having individually matched or outplayed opponents that they had beaten comfortably in the round-robin section of the competition, it was a hard one to take as Whyte admitted.
“We felt like we were the better team for most of the game, but got a bit short on time at the end of the game and rushed a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way,” he said.
“They turned out to be the wrong choices, so it’s a bit of a tough one to come off feeling like that.”
While a series of shots from both teams seemed to run further than they expected in the latter stages, the Scottish skip was making no excuses and took responsibility upon himself.
“The ice conditions were similar to most of the games, it was just a couple of overthrows by myself that cost us a little bit at the end,” said Whyte.
“It’s just not been our day unfortunately, but hopefully tomorrow we can put in a big performance and try to win that medal.”
Through the disappointment, there remains determination to finish on a high on the team’s first opportunity to represent their country at a major championship at senior level.
“We know we’ve got a big responsibility tomorrow to try to win a medal for Scotland, so that’s what we’re focused on now, to try to be as good as we can, play how we have all week and finish on a high for all our fans who’ve come out here,” said Whyte.
The third place play-off takes place at 4pm GMT, with Sweden meeting Canada in the final 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 final
Scotland – Canada 7-9
Day Nine – 4 April
Bronze medal game
Scotland – USA 4pm (GMT)
