Scotland start strongly at World Mixed Doubles Curling Champs

Jen Dodds hailed an event 'a long time coming' as hosts Scotland got off to a perfect start at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Aberdeen. The top seven qualify for the event at the Beijing Winter Olympics next year and Scotland look likes they will be one of the teams to beat, representing Great Britain.

Jen Dodds hailed an event 'a long time coming' as hosts Scotland got off to a perfect start at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Aberdeen.

The top seven teams will earn a spot in the mixed doubles at Beijing 2022, and Dodds, along with teammate Bruce Mouat, got up and running with a bang as they enjoyed wins from both of their opening two games.

Firstly, on the opening day, they beat Italy 7-4 before triumphing over Australia 9-5 in the morning session of day two.

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Victory to start the tournament ended a long wait for Dodds, on her World Mixed Doubles Championship debut, having been primed to compete at the event last year only for the pandemic to strike and see it cancelled at the eleventh hour.

"I finally got my chance to make my debut in this event, which was great," Dodds said.

"I feel like it was a long time coming, so I was a bit nervous going into the first game, but once you have had practice and you have thrown your first stone at the first end you kind of settle in quite easily, so it was a good to get going and we are glad to get that first win on the board."

Scotland's two victories mean they are tied for first place in Group A, alongside 2019's runners-up Canada and Czech Republic.

The format sees ten teams line up in Group A and a further ten in Group B with each rink playing each other once.

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Then, at the end of the round robin, top spot from each group advances to the semi-finals, while the teams in second in each group face the third-placed side in the other group for a place in the last four.

Canada survived a scare against Spain on day one to win 8-6 before beating Germany 9-6, while Czech Republic have so far seen off Australia 9-3 and Russia 5-2.

Elsewhere in Group A, Germany, Hungary, Italy and South Korea have all won once and lost once.

In Group B, defending champions Sweden are among the early pacesetters, having added a 9-6 win over Estonia to their 8-4 opening-day win over Finland.

Norway and United States are also two wins from two in the same group, while China, Estonia, New Zealand and Switzerland have all registered wins too.

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