National title win so special for Eve
Perthshire curler Eve Muirhead admitted her eighth Scottish Curling Championships crown felt as good as the first.
The Blair Atholl Olympian struck gold at Dewars Centre over the weekend to extend her record haul of wins with an emphatic final victory.
Muirhead (29), alongside team-mates Lauren Gray, Jen Dodds and Vicky Wright, defeated Team Wilson 8-3 in the showdown at Dewars Centre.
“It feels really good and probably just as good as the first,” Muirhead said.
“It’s the first one since my surgery and there are times after that when you’re wondering whether you’re going to be top of the podium again.
“Putting together the performances we did, I’m really proud of the team and myself.”
Muirhead’s victory in Perth books her ticket back to the World Championships, which will this year be held in Canada next month.
“To represent Scotland at the World Championships again is going to be great,” Muirhead explained.
“And Canada is a country you always want to go to for the Worlds, while we’re also looking to bank up a few Olympic points.
“It’s going to be great crowds in Canada, great teams and everyone loves Scotland a lot of the time, so I think it’s going to be good.
“It’s very important to do this in the middle of an Olympic cycle. We still want to be the team going to the Olympic Games. Obviously we don’t know the selection process yet but of course this can also give us one foot forward when you win a Scottish title.
“That was important. However, we just need to keep delivering as a team and that’s all we can do.”
Muirhead has enjoyed a productive season including silver at the Europeans - and was quick to shine the light on coach Kristian Lindström.
“Kristian’s been a great addition to this team,” she said. “He used to be a very high class curler in his day and he still plays a bit of mixed doubles.
“To get his knowledge and expertise shared with us has really helped. We’re going to work hard with him the next few weeks.
“There’s been a lot of preparation for the whole season, before every single game. I can never take my foot off the gas or I can’t curl that well.
“I’ve been really rigid with my pre-game warm up, my post-game cool down and really worked hard in between games to keep on top of my body.
“It’s hard work, but I do it because I love it and I can still make a few curling shots.
“I’ll carry on as long as I can keep playing, because I love what I do.”
Skip of beaten finalists Team Wilson, Maggie Wilson, whose form has been strong this season, was pleased with her week’s work.
“We’ve got a lot to be proud of from this week,” Wilson said. “We played a lot of good shots and had a lot of good games building on what we’ve done this season.
“We’ve got a lot to take forward for next season. We know we can be back here next season and maybe get a different result.”
Elsewhere at the championships, Kinross curler Beth Farmer impressed to guide her team to the semi-finals before losing to Team Wilson.