Muirhead aims for gold again with new line-up

Eve Muirhead will defend her European crown with her new-season line-up and fellow skip Bruce Mouat is looking forward to making his debut at the Le Gruyere AOP European Curling Championships, which get under way at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia today.

Muirhead, who claimed gold in St Gallen, Switzerland last year, has two team members making their debut at the European Championships this time around – Jennifer Dodds at third and Vicky Wright as alternate – and the skip, who has won the title twice before in 2011 and 2017 and medalled at the last eight consecutive championships, is keen to make a quick start at the event.

“It’s something we’ve learned in the past, that getting off to a good start helps us build a little bit of momentum,” said Muirhead.

Heading into this season, following hip surgery and rehab, Muirhead is understandably taking a measured approach to expectations surrounding her team as defending champions, but is as ambitious as ever for her rink as they target qualification for Scotland to the world championships at this event, as well as a podium finish.

“I would absolutely love to do what we did last year and get that gold medal, but it’s going to be a big ask this year,” she added.

Scotland’s men’s Team Mouat, who are currently ranked No 5 in the world are keen to make their mark in Tallinn, where Mouat and team-mate Bobbie Lammie enjoyed silver medal success in the World Junior Curling Championships in 2015.

“It is familiar territory for me and Bobby and I remember it being a great venue and the town was really nice as well,” explained Mouat.

Round-robin play gets under way today, with the men taking on Norway and Germany and the women opening against Denmark.