Olympic curling qualifier: Scotland beat Latvia & Estonia to seal play-off place
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Eve Muirhead's Scotland rink are back on track after three consecutive wins
Eve Muirhead's Scotland rink have clinched an Olympic qualifier play-off place with a game to spare after wins over Latvia and Estonia on Wednesday.
The European champions beat Estonia 8-2, then Latvia 9-5 later in the day after taking three in the ninth end.
It took their tally to five wins in seven, with their final round-robin encounter against Italy on Thursday.
Scotland can still finish second, third or fourth in the standings, with three places in Beijing up for grabs.
"If we keep building momentum like we're doing, we're going to be tough for whoever we do face," Muirhead said. "So it would be nice to get another win tomorrow just to keep the momentum going.
"We're delighted to get into the playoffs. That was our number one goal coming here."
"Every game we've played we've got better and we're just adapting to the different conditions and to each other and I think we're building a lot of good things, so as long as we win our last now we're good."
What is the format?
The nine teams all play one another, with the country top of the standings at the end going straight through to the Olympics, which start on 4 February.
Those who finish second and third will play each other again, with the winner taking the second qualifying berth.
The loser will then meet the rink who finished fourth in the round-robin standings, with the triumphant nation sealing the final place. Ultimately, a top-four finish is a must.
The women's teams competing are: Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Scotland - who would play as Great Britain at the Olympics - and Turkey.
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