A powerful performance in the second half of their meeting with Estonia saw Scotland’s Team Muirhead cruise to a 9-2 victory and move into the top three of the standings at the Olympic Qualification Event in the Netherlands with a record of four wins and two losses.
That result, combined with Latvia’s loss to Germany, left them needing a win over the Latvians later in the day to guarantee a place in the play-offs, while still retaining an outside chance of earning the top spot in the round-robin that would bring direct qualification for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, should current leaders Japan slip up in either of their last two matches.
While there is no title to be won this week, Scotland skip Eve Muirhead has emphasised the need to treat the event like a major championship and she believes that she and teammates Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds and Hailey Duff have gone about that well since their shaky start when they lost two of their first three matches in challenging conditions. 
“I would definitely like to think we’re building form with every single game and that’s what you want to do at Championships,” she said.
“As much as the format is slightly different here in terms of the play-off stages and how there is no final, we still like to build towards those final games and right now we’re definitely trending in the right direction.”
It was a tight encounter early on with the Estonians who had also gone into the match with a realistic chance of making the play-offs.
Three of the first four ends were blanked, but significantly the only score was a steal of two for the Scots.
After they then forced their opponents to take a single at the fifth to lead 2-1 at the midway break, they then ratcheted things up in the next four ends, scoring seven shots to just another single for Estonia to end the match after nine ends and Muirhead was again full of praise for the tactical input provided by her teammates, as well as the quality of their play.
“We played well. The steal of two at the second end put us on the front foot and we really controlled the game from there on in,” she said.
“Everyone’s playing solid and if we do have a half shot then the next player backs it up and that’s crucial out here. 
“I think we still have half shots, but we’re getting better. The ice is still tricky, but as a team we’re bringing all four of our heads together and we’re managing to figure it out.
“If anything, we just need to jump on the ice conditions quicker, but we are definitely doing that a lot better than we did at the start of the week.”
Following their meeting with Latvia at 6pm (GMT) this evening, they have one remaining round-robin match tomorrow against Italy.
Scotland Team (Qualifying Team GB for Beijing 2022)
Eve Muirhead
Vicky Wright
Jen Dodds
Hailey Duff
Mili Smith
Schedule:
Saturday 11 December
0800 – Session 1
Scotland v Czech Republic 7-5
Sunday 12 December
1300 – Session 3
Scotland v Turkey 3-7
Monday 13 December 
0800- Session 4
Scotland v Korea 4-8
1800 – Session 5
Scotland v Japan 8-5
Tuesday 14 December
1300 – Session 6
Scotland v Germany 7-4
Wednesday 15 December
0800 – Session 7
Scotland v Estonia 9-2
1800 – Session 8
Scotland v Latvia
Thursday 16 December
1300 – Session 9
Scotland v Italy
Friday 17 December
0900 Play-off Session 1
Saturday 18 December
0900 Play-off Session 2
Image: WCF/ Steve Seixeiro
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