IT’S SWEEP AND SOUR FOR SCOTS
Swiss gold and silver for Scots rinks SPORTS FILE
A stunning performance from Eve Muirhead’s golden girls saw Scotland win the European Curling Championship title.
But Kyle Smith’s men suf fered heartache in their final as they had to settle for silver after a defeat to Sweden.
Muirhead’s rink of Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Lauren Gray lifted the trophy in St Gallen, Switzerland after beating Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg’s side 6-3 in a thrilling final.
Skip Muirhead said: “This is my eighth medal at the Europeans and my sixth final so to manage to get gold is really special.
“I must pay tribute to all of those who have worked hard to make this happen.
“We learnt a lot during the week and we were able to fine tune things.
“It was hard to walk away with bronze in 2016. It is tough at the top but we are like night and day compared to where we were last year.
“All of that progress has contributed to this result and this puts us in an excellent place as we make our final preparations for the Winter Olympics next year in Pyeongchang.”
Muirhead claimed her team would have to play the game of their lives to break Hasselborg’s phenomenal unbeaten run throughout the eight day tournament. And that is exactly what they set out to do from the outset.
Both teams were restricted to exchanging singles over the first three ends. The fourth end was then blanked before the Scots had an open hit for two to lead for the first time in the final.
The Swedes pulled level with a single at the seventh and the Scots had a tough shot for two but claimed a single at the next.
However, a steal of a single at the ninth saw the Scots extend their lead and a brilliantly set up final end left the Swedes with no options despite having hammer.
A further single for Team Muirhead meant Hasselborg’s quartet had to settle for silver for a second year.
Smith’s rink narrowly failed to complete a famous Scottish double when they lost the final to Sweden’s defending champion Niklas Edin.
Shortly after Muirhead’s rink had struck gold, Smith trailed 3- 0 early on yet led 5- 4 with just two ends left.
Edin then showed his class and vast top-flight experience, counting a two at the ninth end before killing off Smith’s desperate fightback with a four at the last as he retained his title 10-5.
Smith said: “It has been a good week and this is a good stepping stone to Pyeongchang. But just now it feels a bit raw as I really felt we could have taken that crown and title.”