Scots advance!

Canada to play Scotland in semis at 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship

Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs only had one blemish in its 11-1 round-robin record at the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship. Now, it will have a chance to avenge that loss in the semifinals.

Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat, ranked fifth, earned a spot in the final four after an 8-7 win over fourth-seed Team Niklas Edin of Sweden in a qualifier game on Saturday morning. 

Tied at seven in the 10th, Scotland maintained its edge by simplifying the end. Mouat made a peel to win the game and book his team’s ticket in the semis.

His reward is another game against Canada later today at 3 p.m. (all times Central Standard) with a spot in the gold-medal game on the line.

Scotland defeated Canada 6-5 in an extra end earlier this week during the round robin. What will it take for Mouat, vice-skip Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie, lead Hammy McMillan, alternate Kyle Waddell, team coach Michael Goodfellow and national coach Greg Drummond to do it again?

“Similar to what we just did,” Mouat said. “I think Niklas is no easy team to get past, so Brad’s the same. If we play well like we did there, then it’s going to be a really good game, and I hope the crowd enjoys it.”

Sweden’s loss ends Edin’s quest to earn a record-extending eighth world championship as a skip and bolsters Scotland’s chances of earning a second world title in the past three years. Team Mouat raised the world championship trophy over its heads in 2023, the last time the event was hosted in Canada at Ottawa.

However, its path runs through a Canadian team on an eight-game winning streak.

Scotland and Sweden opened the game with a flurry of scoring in the first half. After Sweden opened with a single the teams exchanged two-enders in the second through fourth ends. It wasn’t until the fifth when the tides turned to Scotland’s favour. Team Edin nosed a blank attempt in the fifth and Scotland replied in the sixth with a double for a deuce. 

After trading singles in the seventh and eighth, Sweden tied the game in the ninth with a score of two.

“I think it was just having or taking the twos in the early even ends that kind of gave us that jump. Then we got a wee break in the fifth end when he noses the peel,” Mouat said. “I think that was probably the biggest turning point and then obviously the two in six helps as well, so we had our noses in front for most of it and kept our cool.”

Third-ranked China’s Team Xiaoming Xu earned an 8-7 extra-end win against sixth-ranked Norway’s Team Magnus Ramsfjell in the other qualification round game. China will play second-ranked Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland in the other semifinal at 3 p.m.

Leading by one, China made an incredible sixth-end shot for three. Norway nestled a stolen point frozen on the button; however, Xu found a way to remove it to get the big score. China masterfully played a triple-raise takeout for the four-point lead. Norway replied with a three-ender in the seventh and battled back with a steal of one in the 10th to tie the game. However, Team Xu drew to the button for the win in the extra frame.

China is competing not only for medals but also for precious Olympic Qualification Points. The nation has made its first appearance at the World Men’s since 2021 and did not play at last year’s championship, which was the first opportunity for nations to earn points for a berth in the men’s competition at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. China will clinch an Olympic berth with a victory in the semifinal.

The winners of the semifinals advance to Sunday’s gold-medal game at 3 p.m. The losers will play for bronze on Sunday at 9 a.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship, go to www.curling.ca/2025worldmen/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025worldmen/nouvelles/?lang=fr.