Scotland concluded the World Curling Championship in miserable fashion by losing to Italy in the bronze medal match.
The defending champions suffered a “frustrating” semi-final defeat to Canada on Saturday, leaving Switzerland without even the consolation of a podium finish.
The Bruce Mowat Circuit was leading 6-3 going into the tenth end, but missed an equalizing chance to win, allowing Italy to force an extra end.
Despite having the hammer, Scotland failed to convert and lost 7-6.
“We are used to coming to tournaments and playing well in the qualifying stages,” Mowat said. “I feel like we played well, but there were just a few mistakes from me.
“We are finding this very difficult. We are proud to have reached the semi-finals again, but this match will be painful for some time.
“Hopefully we can use this to push ourselves forward over the next two years and get back to the Olympics.”
Sweden won the gold medal by defeating Canada, winners of Scotland, 6-5 in the gold medal match.
Scotland's Olympic silver medalists Bruce Mowat, Hammy McMillan, Grant Hardie and Bobby Lammy have already collected a full set of world medals, with gold last year coming after a second-place finish in 2021 and bronze on their debut in 2018.
