TEAM Whyte won their first Grand Slam title in dramatic fashion at the WFG Masters in Guelph, Canada on Sunday.
It was the second time Ross Whyte, Robin Brydone, Duncan McFadzean and Euan Kyle -from Stranraer- had reached the final, narrowly missing out in 2024 to Italy’s Team Retornaz.
Sunday’s final saw Team Whyte take on the Canadian Team Jacobs, skipped by 2014 Olympic champion Brad Jacob, in a a tense encounter.
A new rule was tested during the event where teams lost the hammer if they blanked consecutive ends. That came into play early after Jacobs blanked the first and had to draw into an empty house for a single point in the second.
Jacobs looked to have struck a telling blow when he registered a two at the fifth to move into a 3-1 lead.
A strong response saw the Scots set up a difficult chance for their skip to make a take-out to claim a three at the next end and while he was not quite able to pull it off, a two levelled the scores.
They then applied the pressure at the crucial seventh and penultimate end, forcing Jacobs to score a single to leave them heading down the last 4-3 behind, but with last stone advantage.
Whyte’s men had never been in front at any stage and when the skip lined up his final delivery, he could see only a sliver of the opposition stone that was lying shot, close to the button. However, perfect execution saw him remove it to score the two that won the match and the title.
A jubilant Whyte said afterwards: “It was amazing to make that last shot.
“It doesn’t just come down to me, there’s a line call and sweeping there as well, so it was a real team shot to win our first ever Grand Slam and we all did our bit and managed to make it.
“I can’t really describe how it felt to see their stone going out of the rings, it’s just unbelievable.
“What a feeling to win our first Grand Slam.
“We’re over the moon and I couldn’t be happier for the rest of the boys.
“Winning our first one feels like a bit of a weight off our back and now hopefully we can push on and win many more.”
