Eve Muirhead was left celebrating a job well done as Scotland’s women got their European Curling Championships off to a fine start against Russia.
In last year’s final Scotland suffered an agonising 6-5 loss to Russia as they were set to settle for silver.
But Muirhead and co enacted some revenge on the ice in Stavanger as they got the better of the defending champions 11-5.
The Scots started off by giving up a single steal in the first end, but scored in the next three ends, including a single steal in the third and a steal of two in the fourth when Russian skip Anna Sidorova was heavy and wide with her final hit.
Russia then got two shots back in the fifth, taking the game into half-time with the Scots enjoying a 4-3 lead.
And the game well and truly swung Scotland’s way in the sixth end as Muirhead scored six to take an unassailable 10-3 lead.
Russia replied by scoring two in the seventh end but when Scotland scored one more in the eighth, the Russians conceded.
“The sixth end was the turning point,” said Muirhead, with Scotland set to play Latvia and Germany in their next two games.
“We were one up with hammer and they were chasing us. We played a good end, and to come up with a six is always nice.
“So that’s game number one, against one of the favourites. We all played well out there and it was a good team effort."
© Sportsbeat 2013