Olympic silver medallists Mouat, Hammie McMillan, Grant Hardie and Bobby Lammie have a full set of world medals, with last year’s gold coming after a runners-up finish in 2021 and bronze on their debut in 2018.

Against Brad Gushue’s Canada, they trailed 5-1 at halfway and the contest was over after nine ends.

It was a different story in the later session as the Scots raced into a 3-0 lead from the first end. Three stones were stolen in the fifth for a commanding 7-2 advantage, with Italian skip Joel Retornaz opting to shake hands soon after.

“Focusing on the draw shot and getting off to a good start has been pretty key in all four of our matches,” Mouat explained.

“Without hammer against Gushue we slipped behind, so it’s just showing you the importance of draw shot at the minute.

“I think we have the ability to turn the hammer against other teams, though, and we’re still in a good spot.

“Playing the number one seed and the Canadians, who are ranked pretty high as well, was always going to be a very tough day, so getting the one win was quite important for us to keep the momentum rolling and three and one after our first four games we’re pretty happy with.”

Scotland take on New Zealand next, with games against Germany (Tuesday), Japan (Wednesday) and Sweden (Friday) to be shown live on the BBC Sport website and app.