The Olympic and Paralympic veterans have done what was required of them and it now falls to a couple of youngsters to ensure that Team GB has a full complement of curlers in Pyeonchang next year.
Not that 23-year-old Gina Aitken and 22-year-old Bruce Mouat lack experience of what confronts them in the Canadian town of Lethbridge this weekend because it is the fourth time in five years that the Edinburgh-based pair have represented Scotland at the World Mixed Doubles Championships.
This time, though, with the teams skipped by Dave Murdoch, who won silver at the Sochi Winter Olympics, Eve Muirhead, who claimed bronze there and Aileen Neilson, who picked up another bronze at the ensuing Winter Paralympics, having already earned the points required to ensure British involvement in their disciplines, Aitken and Mouat have the added pressure of seeking to make sure their country is involved when mixed doubles makes its first appearance on the Olympic stage.
A fourth-placed finish 12 months ago earned valuable qualifying points, but with Korea guaranteed their place as hosts, only seven teams can qualify and, with a total of 39 countries vying for places over the next week, there is considerable work to be done.
“Being in fourth right now isn’t a guarantee so it’s not comfortable, but we know what we need to do and we’re confident we can do it,” said Mouat.
Few have proven themselves better at coping with such pressure in recent times, however, than the lad who has skipped teams to gold medals at last year’s World Junior Championships and this season’s World University Games, as well as out-performing established full-time curlers at the recent Scottish Championships where they met Murdoch’s rink in the final.
“There’s been a lot of really good moments,” Mouat acknowledged.
“Reflecting on what’s happened over the past year, starting with a new team after winning the World Juniors last year, going to the World University Games, winning a gold medal there was the reward for all the hard work we put into forming the relationship we wanted within our team.
“We gelled so well out there and played really well and my funding came in to play Mixed Doubles with Gina so that’s really made my season really hectic. I’ve become a full-time curler but I did a placement with my University on top of that, finishing in December.”
That academic background has done Mouat since he and Aitken have been involved in a great deal of mental calculation as they take on a new challenge in the sport since mixed doubles is not only new to the Olympics, but to the sport as a whole, its world championships having been instituted little more than a decade ago.
A shorter, sharper version of curling it has the potential to be its equivalent of T20 cricket or seven-a-side rugby, making it more accessible to both players and spectators, but the tactics are still evolving.
“We’ve seen a huge change,” said Mouat.
“Gina and I have known each other since we were eight and I think this is our sixth year playing together and we just started having a bit of fun playing a new format. We loved the sport so much we just thought it was something else to try.
“No-one had perfected it and no-one knew what perfecting mixed doubles was and I don’t think anyone has done it yet. There’s an argument that people are getting there, but I don’t think you can say any one team is hands down the best.”
He believes that being part of the British Curling programme has been advantageous to their progress, particularly since they were given the chance to turn fully professional after it was confirmed that mixed doubles had been given Olympic status.
“I don’t know how many tour events we’ve played this year but it’s been a lot more than any other country except maybe Russia and the Hungarians play a lot too,” Mouat noted.
“However British Curling has allowed us to go and travel and play in tour events which has really established our game and allowed us to emerge as one of the stronger teams within the tour.”
That, in turn, breeds confidence that they are better placed than most to deal with what is coming next week.
“We have structures within our game now so that if we’re in the sixth end and we’re two up we know what to do, whereas before we would just draw to the four foot because that’s what everyone seems to do,” Mouat explained.
There is also real clarity about what is required.
“This will be our fourth time at the World Championships and we’ve worked out that to be sure we need a top eight finish. That will get GB a spot,” Mouat observed.
That is what will serve the greater good, but the funding they have received has also given him and his partner an advantage when it comes to fulfilling their personal ambitions.
“We’re going to the World Championships with the intention of getting GB an Olympic spot and then hopefully getting an Olympic spot for ourselves,” said Mouat.
The World Mixed Doubles Championships take place from April 22-29 with the 39 competing nations split into five pools and the top 16 taking part in the knockout stages.
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