Eveand palsfind ittough inEuro champs
Eve Muirhead’s rink are having a tough time in the defence of their European Curling Championships title in Tallinn, Estonia.
After six matches, they have recorded three wins over Denmark and Italy and Finland with defeats against Sweden, Czech Republic and Latvia.
Yesterday (Tuesday) they defeated the Finns 10-5 and that will be followed by matches against the top three teams – Switzerland, Germany and Russia.
An opening day win 7-4 win over Denmark was followed by losses to Sweden (10-4) and Czech Republic (87) which meant the game against Italy on Sunday was crucial.
In the final end, Muirhead played a hit and stay with the last stone of the game to win 9-7 and afterwards she said: “We knew we needed to get a win, so I’m really pleased. It was a game of patience but as a team we stuck together.
“We have to expect that every game is going to go down to last shot, last end, and you’re not a skip unless you are confident about making last shots like that.”
The PEAK-based star is defending her European crown with a new-look rink with two of her team making their debut – Jennifer Dodds at third and Vicky Wright as alternate joining Lauren Gray and Vicki Chalmers (formerly Adams) in the squad.
The skip, who has won the title twice before in 2011 and 2017 and medalled at the last eight consecutive championships, is also heading into the event following hip surgery and rehab.
The Scotland’s men under Bruce Mouat also train at the National Curling Centre at the PEAK and are currently sitting with five wins from six.
Only Hammy McMillan junior in Team Mouat Bobby Lammie, Grant Hardie and Ross Whyte are the other team members - has competed in the European Championships when it was hosted in Scotland in Braehead back in 2016. However the debutants have made a strong start with wins over Norway (8-7), Germany (8-3), Switzerland (8-4), Poland (11-2) and Holland (8-5). Their only reverse came at the hands of Russia (8-7).
Victory last night (Tuesday) over Italy – who boast the same record as the Scots –