Eve Muirhead made amends for an early mistake by leading her Great Britain team to a thumping win over Olympic champions Sweden on the first day of the round-robin curling competition in Beijing.
Muirhead endured a nightmare start when she missed a potentially match-winning draw with the final stone of the extra end as her fourth Games began with a disappointing 6-5 loss to Switzerland
But the 31-year-old bounced back in emphatic fashion, sinking Anna Hasselborg’s side 8-2 in their evening match with three ends to spare.
Meanwhile Bruce Mouat showed no ill effects from missing out on a medal in the mixed team competition as he led his men’s rink to a 7-5 win over Italy
Mouat said: “Tuesday was a bit of a tough day but this is the team that I’ve played with for 95 per cent of my time in the last three years.
“This is the one I’ve always looked to and always felt that this is the one I want to win.
“It would have been nice to win the other one, but I just think that I wanted to turn it around and play well for the boys as well as myself.”
Muirhead, who won a bronze medal with a different team in Sochi, has come into this competition somewhat under the radar after being forced to fight through a qualifying competition.
And she refused to be too downhearted about her opening loss, saying of her crucial shot: “They are never easy to judge.
“Unfortunately it didn’t come off. If I ever had a shot like that again, I’m confident I would make it.”
Muirhead believes her inexperienced squad has the right mentality to move into contention for one of the top four play-off slots and with it a shot at a potential second Olympic medal.
“There’s a lot of hunger here,” added Muirhead. “A fourth Olympic Games is something that you dream of coming to.
“I’m very glad that I’ve got the opportunity to be here with four girls at their first Olympic Games.
“I’m proud of them, how much they’ve come along and fought and they deserve their spot in the team.”
