Home duo Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat are hoping to secure a Winter Olympics spot at next week’s World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Aberdeen.
Dodds and Mouat are the pair selected to represent Scotland on home ice at Curl Aberdeen following their victory in the British Mixed Doubles elite finals at the National Curling Academy (NCA) in Stirling in February.
As well aiming to challenge for a World Championship medal in the Granite City Dodds and Mouat – who are both from Edinburgh – are hoping to at least finish in the top seven which would secure a place for Great Britain at next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The pair have only recently returned from Calgary, Canada which hosted the men’s and women’s World Championships as well as two Grand Slam events.
Dodds said: “It is nice to have a new target, a fresh focus and I’ve had to get my head into mixed doubles quite quickly now which is a good thing for me.
“Getting back on ice has been really good and to get the chance to practise this week with Bruce again and check a few things it has felt really good.
“We have that same goal of qualifying that spot for Team GB and I am really looking forward to this.
“We have not had an international event to test ourselves as a pair but we have had the opportunity to play together a lot at the NCA .
“The teams we have been playing against are obviously high quality teams providing us with high quality opposition so that has put us in a really good place to go out and play our best next week against the world’s best.”
Mouat added: “Beijing is the long term goal, so we have to do our best to make sure we secure that place.
“We want to get that GB spot and see where that takes us I would like to see us get that and provide another chance for the Olympics and then it is down to the selectors.
“We have to try not to think too much about that qualification or change the mindset of focusing on each game in turn, but it is in the back of your mind and you have to go out on the ice and play the best you can and then the results will come from that.”
The 29-year-old added: “The result overall was disappointing for us and we didn’t achieve our goal.
“But it was one or two shots here or there that could have really changed it for us.”
Mouat was in-form in Canada, skipping his side to World Championship silver and back-to-back Grand Slam titles.
The 26-year-old is looking forward to another challenge and said: “It is nice to be back in Aberdeen and I guess after last year it is the chance to get to a home Worlds after all and that is nice.
“I’m delighted that I have the chance to represent Scotland in Scotland and it may look different this year to what we were expecting last year.
“It is unfortunate that we cannot have friends and family here to watch us, but with all the other events being cancelled due to Covid and all schedules getting turned upside down we are here, getting to compete at this World’s, albeit in a different way and we will take that.”
