Winter Olympics: Bruce Mouat credits his 'magic hat' as he and Jenn Dodds move a step closer to mixed doubles curling medal in Beijing

The Edinburgh duo emerged from the Ice Cube with a fourth round robin victory and found their best form in a dominant display against the Olympic debutants.

Mouat is so well known for wearing a hat on the curling circuit that it has its own Twitter page with over 100 followers.

After sealing his win over the Czechs, Mouat said: "I guess it's a wee bit of a superstition almost now.

"I didn't play very well in the first three games and I was quite disappointed with how I was playing so I put the hat on, and it's got superpowers, apparently.

"It's maybe a vanity thing, my hair is all over the place. It just covers it up and people don't worry about my hair."

Mouat was able to neutralise the Czech powerplay – a turnaround from the tight tussle with Australia – and score two on their own in the penultimate end to highlight a fine display.

"As a team, that was our best performance," said Dodds.

"We got on top of draw weight a lot quicker and I think that showed in the first half, we were getting the angles and the tacks right.

"That's more like us as a performance. I've still got to figure out some of the ticks but we're getting closer!"

Mouat was in imperious form, nailing all nine attempted take-outs and registering a 92% success rate on 12 draw shots.

The pair were cheered to victory on by their Team GB colleagues with Eve Muirhead's rink and the rest of Mouat's team offering vocal support at Beijing's National Aquatics Centre.

Attention now turns to an eye-catching clash with early pace-setters Italy, who have gone five from five here.

If they prevail, Britain will have all but mathematically qualified for the semi-finals.

"We're going to have a tight game tonight against Italy," said Dodds. "It's about building on what