TEAM GB WOMEN EMBRACE PRESSURE TO REGISTER CRUCIAL WIN V JAPAN

Knowing they had to win every remaining match to have a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals at the Winter Olympics, Team GB’s women registered an emphatic eight end, 10-4 victory over fellow playoff contenders Japan to return to move into the top three in the round-robin standings.

For skip Eve Muirhead it was a re-match of the encounter that saw her denied a medal at the last Winter Olympics in Korea, when her team lost the bronze medal match, but with an entirely different line-up accompanying her, she was in control from the outset.

Starting with the hammer, Team GB gained the upper hand when vice skip Vicky Wright drew behind cover to leave them well set up with both teams having two stones around the four foot, but the Japanese ones exposed and after Muirhead removed them with a double takeout, their skip Satsuki Fujisawa miscued an attempted promotion shot to recover the situation, leaving the British skip with a straightforward takeout to claim a three. 

After the Japanese team were forced to take a single at the next, a further mistake by their skip at the third end when an attempted draw came up short, leaving Muirhead with another opening and she took advantage to add a third counter to put her team 6-1 ahead.

From that point it was about ensuring that they did not provide their opponents with the chance to claim a big end and they duly controlled the match, maintaining the pressure until the Japanese skip’s desperate attempt at a double takeout at the eighth end left two British stones counting, drawing their concession.

“We knew that was a very important game for us today and we came out with a lot of fire. We had a great chat last night after the loss to Canada and we knew it was a very important game to get a win,” said Muirhead.

“Coming out and getting a three in the first end, you couldn’t really ask for much more and we managed to control it to the end.

“To get the 6-1 lead was nice, but what we did very well was we didn’t get one bit complacent. We kept control of every end, every stone and saw the game out.

“I wasn’t far away yesterday. I was just the wrong side of the inch, but I think today I really focused hard on not making those small errors and the team were great behind me, helping me make shots. We were really clinical with a lot of stone placement and that’s why we came away with the win.”

Their attention now moves to a meeting with hosts China, in the knowledge that victory in that match against a team that has won just two of seven matches and in their final one against bottom of the table Russia, who have won just one, should hopefully take them into the semi-finals, with Muirhead stressing that there is considerable work still to be done.

“Whoever our last two games are against they were going to be tough,” she said.

“I don’t think you can get complacent about any game out there, as they’re all very hard. We’ve got China tomorrow and it’s always a little bit harder when you’ve got that home crowd against you, but we’re enjoying every minute of it out there, we’ve worked very hard as a team and of course tomorrow’s a new day.”

To that end, getting some extra time off was helpful, but the Team GB quartet believe they are ready, however hard the challenge becomes. 

“I wouldn’t say the early finish makes a huge difference to be honest,” said Muirhead.

“Of course, you’ll never say no to a bit of extra rest time, but the reason we train so hard throughout the year in a great facility back in Stirling and with great support from The National Lottery and British Curling is to ensure that whatever situation we’re in we can fight to the very end if we need to.

“You just have to take each day and each game at a time. We wanted to get in this position. The last two Olympics, this is the position I’ve been in and I love pressure. It seems to be when we play best.”

While she knows tomorrow’s opponents will be well supported from the stands, she is looking forward to the occasion, while hoping the small British contingent will make themselves felt.

“It’ll be very important for Team GB to get behind us and I know they are doing that,” said Muirhead.

“I love the atmosphere. It’s great that there are fans in the stands out there and the cheers for China are really good.

“It feels very similar to previous Olympics. Having a medal (in Sochi in 2014) then finishing fourth (in PyeongChang in 2018) was really difficult, but every Olympic Games I go to I’m hungry to get on that podium. Our next goal is to make the top four and once we do that, if it happens, we then start again.

“All of us have a lot of hunger to carry on some good play out there. We know we’re capable of playing some really good games. We’ve proven that and I don’t think we’ve had one game that we’ve come off and I’ve thought ‘That was terrible’. I think every game we’ve played has been very close, but we’ve got to be very clinical and just keep going.”