Canada, Scotland look to end gold-medal droughts at World Men's Curling Championship
Published
Two historic curling nations will go head-to-head in the gold-medal game at the World Men's Curling Championship in Ottawa on Sunday.
The Canadians and the Scots enter the gold-medal contest hungry to end droughts at the men's worlds.
Canada hasn't won gold at the event since Gushue's rink accomplished the feat in 2017 when he topped Sweden's Team Niklas Edin in the final to cap a perfect week in Edmonton. Gushue, a five-time Brier champion, has since lost in two worlds finals, both to Edin in 2018 and 2022.
Scotland, meanwhile, hasn't stood atop the podium at the World Men's Curling Championship since 2009 when David Murdoch defeated Kevin Martin in a memorable final, highlighted by the Canadian throwing away his second-last rock of the game.
Canada and Scotland last played each other in a men's worlds final in 2012 when Canada's Glenn Howard downed Tom Brewster and his Scottish rink.
The two sides earned their spots in the championship game after surviving a pair of thrilling semi-final matches Saturday night in front of an electric crowd at TD Place.
Team Gushue - featuring skip Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker - outlasted Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller, 7-5, while Team Mouat defeated Italy's Team Joel Retornaz in an extra end, 9-8.
"I think that might have been our best game all week as a team," Gushue told the media after the win. "But we've struggled this week. So to get to a final, I think we're pretty fortunate. We've just got to go out and play like we did today."
Gushue earned his ticket to the semi-final after hammering Edin, 9-1, in the qualifier earlier Saturday. Mouat had a bye to the semi-final following a 10-2 round robin.
Canada went 9-3 in the preliminary round.
All-time Canada has captured the most gold medals at World Men's Curling Championship with 36 compared to five by Scotland. The Scots rank second all-time in total medals with 35, including a leading 21 silver medals.
Canada has won a total of 55 medals at this event.