Muirhead fights back to stay on course

Eve Muirhead edged a rollercoaster battle with her old rival Andrea Schoepp last night as she recovered from an earlier blip to stay on course for a quarter-final spot at the Bern Cup in Switzerland.

Following two wins on Thursday, the reigning European champion and her team endured a temporary setback yesterday when they were beaten 6-5 at the final end by St Petersburg’s former European gold medallist Victoria Moiseeva.

That meant a tougher route to the last eight for the Perthshire curler, and it became even harder when she was drawn to play the veteran Bavarian doctor Schoepp in a repeat of the 2010 world final.

Muirhead lost that one but scraped through last night despite trailing 4-0 after the first two ends.

A spirited fightback saw the Scots go 5-4 up, and they then withstood Schoepp’s late rally to win 6-5.

Another two victories today will guarantee Muirhead’s quarter-final place as she looks to sharpen her form ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. She faces Swiss skip Raphaela Keiser next.

On track: Eve Muirhead. Picture: SNS.