Sibling rivals prepare to crack the ice in ferocious fight for title
Thomas Muirhead is looking to give big brother Glen a chilling experience at Scottish Championships
HIS older sister Eve is Scotland’s best known curler, while their big brother Glen will also be defending a title. But Thomas Muirhead is looking to emerge from the shadow of his siblings to cause a shock at the Scottish Curling Championships which start tomorrow.
The 21-year-old baby of the curling dynasty has worked ever more closely with Glen since they left the family home in Blair Atholl last year to set up their own business rearing sheep and cattle. Set on a lovely stretch of land to the east of Crieff, it is pretty much equidistant from Perth and Stirling, where they do most of their training as part of the British Curling elite squad.
Their schedules remain challenging. So a little help from friends and, in particular, family is required. And dad Gordon, a world champion curler in his own right, is frequently on call.
However, as Thomas noted, a very different dynamic is at play on the ice when the brothers turn cold shoulders toward one another. In contrast, just now, in the midst of lambing season, their minds are on getting a very different type of delivery right.
“There’s always tough times being brothers working together and competing against one another at such a high level, but we’ve just learned to get on with it,” said Thomas.
“When we’re working together on the farm it’s completely different to when we’re on the ice where, during competition, we don’t really interact with each other at all.
“We both have our own goals and ambitions and we respect each other for that. So we just leave each other to get on with it. We might wind one another up before or after a competition but, when it comes to the crunch, we don’t say anything.
“There’s a wee bit of pressure leading up to the Scottish. We’re both wanting to win it, so we respect each other in that way and don’t say too much.”
It seems seems to be a case of least said, soonest mended in terms of ensuring their overall relationship is unaffected.
“When we’re at home we don’t talk too much about the curling,” Thomas continued. “There’s always lots to be done and decisions to be made, so there’s always plenty to chat about away from the ice.”
Sister Eve’s successes have, of course, helped make the family name one of the most famous in the global game and as they draw inspiration from what the former world and European champion, two time Olympian and six-time Scottish champion skip has achieved, his tone is admiring rather than envious.
“Glen and I have grown up with Eve and we’ve watched her compete at the last two Olympics, so it’s more given us motivation to be there ourselves,” he said.
“We’ve both been at home watching it on the telly or out in the pouring rain feeding sheep while she’s playing, so it’s just given us a bit of a drive.
“The dream would be to be at the Olympics competing alongside Eve if she manages to qualify as well. It’s been that way since we were wee tots.”
He will be similarly supportive should Glen make the trip to Pyeongchang in Korea next year, too.
“If Glen goes I’ll be 100 per cent behind him,” said Thomas. “We’re family at the end of the day. So, whoever goes, we’re going to support 100 per cent and we’ve got a business at home that has to keep going so we’re reliant on each other. Someone will be at home if one of us manages to get the spot at the Olympics.”
There is, as yet, no guarantee any Scots will be make that trip, with Olympic qualifying points still to be earned at this season’s World Championships by those who win the national championships over the next week.
Eve and team-mates Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Lauren Gray, currently ranked No.5 in the world, go into the championships as odds-on favourites. However, they are expecting a serious challenge from Team Fleming – comprising Hannah Fleming, Jen Dodds, Vicky Wright and Alice Spence – who have reached a couple of international tournament finals this seasons.
The men’s event is, meanwhile, expected to be fiercely contested, with the Muirhead boys lining up at third in their respective rinks – Glen with Team Brewster and Thomas with Team Smith.
Cases can be made for the form of both, Tom Brewster’s defending champions having won at the end of last year in Japan and at the venue at which the nationals are taking place when winning the Mercure Perth Masters last month, whereas Kyle Smith’s men have made a major impact in the curling hotbed of Canada this season, winning a title and becoming the first Scots to contest a final at one of the prestigious Grand Slam events.
“It’s been good to get over to Canada and compete in these Grand Slams where it’s the top 15 teams in the world. So we’re playing against the best teams all the time and we’ve beaten some of them,” said Thomas.
“You kind of have to prove yourselves out there and they’ll start to respect you once you start winning, so to get to the final of a Grand Slam