The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scotland close in on play-off place at Euros
Women maintain 100% record
Eve Muirhead’s Scotland team is within touching distance of a semi-final place at the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships at Braehead Arena, Glasgow.
An 8-6 win over Germany yesterday in the sixth session of round-robin play kept them top of the pile and maintained their unbeaten record.
The victory by The Courier columnist also guarantees Scotland a place in the World Championship in Beijing, when they have a chance to add to Britain’s Olympic qualifying points.
By contrast, Scotland’s men, led by Tom Brewster and with Eve’s brother Glenn in the side, went down to a laststone 6-5 loss against Finland in the opening session.
They then lost 4-2 to Germany last night to leave them in a tie for fifth place with three other teams.
Scotland women were in charge throughout in their game against Germany, landing a crucial shot in the ninth to lead 8-6, after which they ran Germany out of stones in the 10th.
Pitlochry curler Muirhead said: “That was another strong performance. We took our twos when we had hammer and forced them when we didn’t.
“The ice conditions were great and the team played great, and that always makes my job easier.
“We’ve got a bit of momentum going now, so we want to keep the wins going to keep our confidence high”
Considering the task of qualifying Scotland for the worlds, she said: “It’s always pressure to try to qualify Scotland for the World Championship.
“For us, that’s the first goal and we’ve managed to do that – to secure Scotland that spot is really crucial this year because Olympic points are at stake.”
Scotland women face the Czech Republic this morning before taking on Denmark in the afternoon, while the men face crunch battles against Italy and then Russia in the evening session.