Scotland recover from shock defeat to maintain title challenge

Bruce Mouat in action — Bruce Mouat's rink beat Austria and Japan in their first two matches of the tournament [Getty Images]

Men's World Curling Championship

Venue: Temple Gardens Centre, Moose Jaw, Canada Dates: 29 March-6 April

Coverage: Watch selected Scotland matches on the BBC Sport website & app

Scotland sit joint second in the World Men's Curling Championship round-robin table after a 9-7 victory over Italy.

World number one Bruce Mouat's rink, along with 2014 Olympic chamion Brad Jacobs' Canadians, have five wins and one surprise defeat - by the Czech Republic team currently ranked 31st in the world and led by Lukas Klima.

Xiaoming Xu's 23rd-ranked China rink lead the way with six wins having played one more game.

The Scots next face Yannick Schwaller's Swiss, the world number four rink who have won four of their six games so far, at 16:00 BST live on the BBC Sport website.

Mouat's rink had eked out a 6-5 win over hosts currently ranked third in the world only to suffer a surprise 8-2 loss to the Czechs, but the 2023 world champions recovered well to hand Joel Retornaz's 12th-ranked Italians their fifth defeat of the round-robin.

The top six sides in the standings after the round robin stage qualify for the play-offs at the weekend.

Olympic qualifying points gained from last year's championships will be added to this year's final total, with the top seven sides gaining qualification for Milan-Cortina in 2026, along with hosts Italy.

Those who fail to secure their place will have another chance to do so via a qualifying tournament at the end of the year.