Mouat bounces back as men’s curling favourites GB start with win

Bruce Mouat recovered from his Winter Olympics mixed doubles disappointment in some style, delivering an accomplished display to lead his Team GB men’s rink to a 9-4 victory in their opening match against China.

Little more than 24 hours earlier, Mouat and Jen Dodds had faltered in the bronze-medal match in the Cortina Curling Stadium for the second successive Games.

But the 31-year-old showed why he is considered one of the world’s best, as the gold-medal favourites started strongly in their attempt to upgrade the silver they won in Beijing four years ago.

The Scots, world champions in three of the past five years, traded points with China in the opening two ends, before a classily compiled three in the third cleaved open an advantage that they would never cede.

They led 5-2 at the break, then a magnificent double take-out and composed closing throw by Mouat extended the advantage to 8-3 after seven.

A judicious set of throws limited the Chinese to one in the eighth but GB closed down the ninth end, taking one to force a round of handshakes with an end to spare.

It always looked like being a mismatch and so it proved. But a tougher test lies in wait on Thursday, when Mouat and his boys face Sweden – who beat them in the 2022 final – at 13:05 GMT live on the BBC.