Scotland’s Team Whyte are set to make their debut at the LGT Men’s World Championships (March 27 – April 4), but their standing in the global game means they will also be heading into the event among the favourites to challenge for honours.
Consistent performance at elite level in recent years has brought Grand Slam tournament victories and a sustained spell ranked among the leading teams in the game, which currently sees them at world number five.
Since Canada’s world number four ranked Team Dunstone are the only men in the field ranked above them, Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Craig Waddell, Euan Kyle and Duncan McFadzean know they have the capacity to contend throughout the week and having had to compete with reigning World Champions Team Mouat for the right to represent Scotland over the years, they are anxious to seize this long-awaited chance.
“It’s great to be going to our first World Championships which feels like it has been a long time coming just waiting for the opportunity to finally get to play as a team and represent Scotland,” said skip Whyte.
“To get the nod and have the faith put in us feels amazing, but we know we are coming out here with a job to do and ultimately to play in a World Championships is great but we know the prize at the end of it that we would like. 
“So, we are out here with full focus on trying to start as well as we can at the beginning of the week and hopefully we’ll see where we are at the business end of it.
“It is exciting for us and it is going to be a great week for us hopefully.”
Whyte has had past experience of World Championships as the alternate (travelling reserve) for Team Mouat and while he believes that has had its benefits; it was clearly not the same as making this trip to Ogden, Utah with his regular teammates.
“It is obviously different being out here with my own team as skip rather than being at this event as the fifth when you are always hoping that as the fifth man you won’t actually get that call up to go on the ice as you want those four players to be doing a great job out there on the ice and there are no injuries or illness,” Whyte noted.
“We are also hoping that this time everyone stays fit and it will give us the best opportunity to try and go as far as we can, but it is definitely different for me.
“Being in the environment before is great seeing everyone in different uniforms and getting used to the structure of the whole week, has been useful, though.”
Their regular visits to North America to play in major events, including the Grand Slams over the past few years, have also prepared them well for what is to come.
“We have also had a lot of opportunities to play over here in the Slams this side of the water so we have had plenty of chances to play against a lot of these top teams,” said Whyte.
“Hopefully that will stand us in good stead this week to go out there and be the best team we can and end up on the tight side of those tight games that might be 50/50’s.
“When you are looking at the draw you know that there are a lot of really good teams here so we know we will have to bring our A game to every match we play, so if we don’t do that we will get caught up in a fight for trying to make that top six place so we want to start off well.”
In terms of their schedule, they could not open the event against a more experienced line-up, since their first opponents are Sweden’s former Olympic, World and European Champions.
“We know we have Team Edin in the first game and we have played against him a lot over the years, never in a setting like this but we feel like it will be about going about our processes and being the best team we can be and being prepared in the same way as we would in any other competition,” said Whyte.
“We know that they bring a lot of experience, have been here and won it seven times and know what they are up to when they get here.
“However, we have had some great training blocks ahead of this week and we hope that along with some good form we can go out there and have a great first game and we are really looking forward to it.
“It is a great way to get into the tournament against the seven time world champs it shows us where we are straight off the bat and get us competing with the top teams early on and that is where we want to be and we are hoping to play against these teams later on in the competition.
“So it is great to get out of the blocks and see if we can put down a marker for ourselves, and we are looking forward to that first battle.
“We always have a great game against Team Edin and they are never easy to get by, but we want to go out there and have a great performance and if I have a shot to win the game then hopefully I make it as that would be a lovely start and would really get us into the World Championships.”
In saying so, Whyte acknowledged that he and his team are in an unusual position as both newcomers to this championship, but also one of the top ranked teams in the field, but insisted that they will simply concentrate on their own processes.
“We have played in many competitions before where we have been the underdogs for sure, but we know for this event we are probably the second ranked team coming into this so the expectations are probably quite high,” said Whyte.
“Ultimately if you don’t play well in any game you are going to get beat at this level and we know we have to bring plenty of energy and good performances to every game, so we are not really focusing on that or looking at the end of the competition.”
In the course of the coming week, the Scots will face all 12 rival nations - Canada, China, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA – in round-robin competition, with the top six qualifying for the play-offs.
Please click here for more information about the LGT World Men’s Curling Championships in Ogden, USA (27 March – 4 April).
Day One – 27 March
Scotland – Sweden 7.30pm (GMT)
Scotland – Japan 1.00am (GMT)
Images: Team Whyte
