Muirhead knocked out of Stockholm quarter-finals

Perthshire curler Eve Muirhead was denied a fairytale return in her first tournament since hip surgery after bowing out in the Stockholm Cup quarter-finals.

The 2013 world champion had been off the ice for 22 weeks but was soon back in the groove, winning her opening three Pool A matches.

Muirhead and teammates Lauren Gray, Vicki Chalmers and Jennifer Dodds advanced to the knockout stages despite losing their last group game 8-7 to Swedish legend Anette Norberg, only for the luck of the draw to set up an instant rematch in the last eight.

This time it was a much cagier affair, but after the Scots rallied from 3-1 down to level at 4-4, Norberg counted two stones at the seventh end and went on to win 7-4.

The double Olympic and three-time world champion is now 51 and semi-retired but remains a ferocious competitor.

“In our first outing as a new team, we had lots of laughs and good shots,” tweeted Team Muirhead. “Next up is Canada and the Portage Classic.”

Meanwhile, at the Swiss Cup in Basel, Eve’s brothers Glen and Thomas and their colleagues Kyle and Cammy Smith failed to reach the quarter-finals after losing to fellow Scot Ross Paterson’s rink.

A 5-4 victory over local skip Noe Traub had kept them alive, but Paterson came from 3-1 down to score seven points in the next three ends en route to an 8-3 win.