Eve Muirhead will be joined by brothers Tom and Glen at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Eve Muirhead, left, will be joined in Pyeongchang by her brothers Tom, centre, and Glen, right

Olympic curling bronze medallist Eve Muirhead will be joined by brothers Glen and Thomas at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

Eve Muirhead, will skip the women for the third consecutive Games, while Kyle Smith will lead a men's rink that includes the Muirhead brothers.

Olympic silver medallist David Murdoch criticised his exclusion.

"I'm not sure the team has the experience to deal with [championship curling]," Murdoch said.

"It is a strange one but it is something we will have to live with. I was very surprised by the decision because I believe we showed enough consistency to deserve our place.

"Championship curling is very different to tour events. I believe we had persevered and proved that we can thrive in that kind of environment."

Glen Muirhead was a member of Tom Brewster's rink, which also missed out on qualification, but he has joined Team Smith - who will be making their Olympic debut - for the Games in Pyeongchang in February. Kyle Waddell and Cammy Smith make up the rest of the team.

The women's and men's curling teams are the first competitors to be confirmed for Team GB's 2018 Winter Olympics squad

A three-man panel appointed by British Curling took into account a broad range of selection criteria, and Smith's team finished higher in last season's World Curling Tour rankings.

Performance director Graeme Thompson said: "Team Smith have shown consistency over the last couple of seasons and they are the highest team in the world rankings so on that evidence they were the ones who deserved to be selected.

"What David achieved in Sochi was fantastic and we did look at previous Olympic experience, but that did not out-weigh the current facts concerning the world rankings. It was their performances last year that made the decision a clear one."

Kyle Smith told BBC Scotland that learning he had been selected was "probably the best feeling" he had ever had.

He added: "It's a big step up. The whole team has worked hard to get to this position. It's a dream we've all had."

'We are getting everything right at the right time'

Eve Muirhead's team won bronze at the World Championships in March, having also finished third in the European Championships earlier in the year.

Muirhead became the youngest curling skip to win an Olympic medal when her rink finished third in Sochi in 2014.

Team Muirhead parted company at the end of last season with former coach Dave Hay - under whom they won the World Championships in 2013 and Olympic bronze the following year.

They also replaced Sarah Reid with Lauren Gray as lead, and brought in Canadian Glenn Howard, a four-time world champion, as a tactical coach. Two-time Olympian Kelly Schafer completes the line-up as alternate.

"I'm really happy with my team," said Eve Muirhead. "I played with a lot of the girls through juniors and into the ladies now.

"I played with Kelly way back in Vancouver 2010. She met her man and lives in Canada now but to have her back in the team is something really special.

"She brings so much experience. We have a really solid team and I think we are getting everything right at the right time."

Analysis

BBC Sport Olympic sports reporter Nick Hope:

Brewster's rink were arguably the favourites for selection this time last year - having represented Scotland at the 2016 World Championships - with Murdoch's line-up struggling to replicate their achievements from the last Olympics.

However, with Brewster's line-up missing out on a medal at those Worlds, Murdoch's rink looked to be back in contention by qualifying for this year's Worlds in April, and narrowly securing the result needed to claim a berth for Team GB at the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, their failure to win a medal ultimately handed the advantage to Smith.