Muirhead mastered by Japanese nemesis once again in Calgary

Perthshire curler Eve Muirhead and her rink exited the Champions Cup in Calgary following another loss to their Olympic nemesis Satsuki Fujisawa.

The Japanese skip denied the Scots in the bronze medal play-off in 2018 and the teams crossed swords again in Canada in a sudden death tie-breaker.

Muirhead and company began slowly but drew level with a three at the fourth end.

It was still all-square going to the seventh, where Fujisawa counted a three to win 7-4.

“We’re obviously a little disappointed, but I think we need to take a lot of really good stuff from the tournament,” said Muirhead.

The Scots have little time to recover before this week’s Players Championship at the same venue.

They meet Canada’s 2014 Olympic champion Jennifer Jones in their opening group game.

“We now move on to another Grand Slam, so let’s hope it can all come together and we can bring some really solid performances,” added Muirhead.

“I’ve always said that this is where you get the world’s best competition, so you can’t doubt how good this preparation is for the World Championships in a few weeks.”

● A spectacular shot from their skip earned Team Mouat a place in the final of the first Pinty’s Grand Slam men’s event of the season to complete a day that also saw them avenge their defeat to Sweden’s Team Edin in the final of the World Championships.

Bruce Mouat’s final delivery to claim the two at the final end for a 5-4 win over Team Gushue brought an end to a superb day’s work at the Humpty’s Champions Cup as they reached their third Grand Slam final.

Mouat’s team had beaten Team Edin 6-5 and now face reigning Canadian champions Team Bottcher in the final.