Eve Muirhead was quick to credit curling’s emerging nations as her rink secured their fifth win on the trot at the European Championships.
Team Muirhead had got off to a slow start in St Gallen, Switzerland, with opening defeat to Sweden but bounced back in style to win their next five fixtures on the ice.
Their latest victory saw them defeated Turkey 8-3 in a win that never looked in doubt, and will look to continue their fine form against the Czech Republic in their next round robin match.
Team Muirhead currently share second place in the team standings with their Swiss hosts, their next opponents after the Czech rink.
But confidence is certainly high among the Scots, and skip Muirhead sees no reason why their winning form can’t continue.
“They were a bit of an unknown quantity given we hadn’t played them before and it is fair to say they are a good technical team who have a lot of potential in the game,” she said.
“It is great see more emerging nations coming into the sport and I am sure they will have a good future.
“We played it very simple and nailed the key shots and it was a solid and clinical performance from the team, making all the draws and nose hits.
“We face two tough teams tomorrow, we are not planning on making any changes to our game and will go out there and continue to deliver solid performances.”
It was a day of mixed results for Kyle Smith’s rink, however, bouncing back from their second defeat of the competition to record a last-gasp win over Norway.
Team Smith were unbeaten going into day three of the championships with four wins from four, but were undone at the hands of Germany with a 6-4 defeat.
Their next encounter saw them fall to the narrowest of losses to Sweden’s Team Edin, unable to find the point in the final end that would prevent them from losing 5-4. But they got back to winning ways with an 8-7 win over Norway – scoring the winning point in the extra end - and will play unbeaten hosts Switzerland next.
“It was the best five ends I have seen the team play this year. It was a very exciting game and we were executing shots the way we wanted to,” said Team Smith’s coach Viktor Kjell.
“It may have been tense for the spectators but I felt confident about the way the team were playing, it really was a great, great game.”
Sportsbeat 2017