Perth skips seeking to bounce back from Swiss disappointment

Perth’s Olympic curling skips Eve Muirhead and Kyle Smith are both playing in Canada this week as they seek to bounce back from disappointing results in Switzerland.

Smith reached two quarterfinals in Ontario last month but then failed to progress at the Swiss Cup in Basel.

The former world junior champion is competing this week at the Gatineau Challenge in Quebec and opens his campaign later tonight against either Sebastien Robillard or Jordan Chandler.

“We’re looking forward to getting back into competitive action after a couple weeks at home after Basel,” said Smith.

“There’s a good strength of field here with a number of top 20 teams playing. We’re hopeful the ice will be of a good standard again so we can give ourselves some high-quality games in preparation for the European Championships next month.”

Muirhead won in Edmonton on her last visit to Canada before losing to Hannah Fleming in the Swiss Masters quarter-finals.

The 2013 world gold medallist has entered this weekend’s Women’s Classic in Portage, Manitoba and begins her title bid tomorrow against Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland.

“It’s a very tough field as always, but we’re taking each game at a time and focusing on what we can control,” said Muirhead.

“The practice we’ve put in should stand us in good stead.”