³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Scotland skip Eve Muirhead is "grateful for the chance to compete" after the women's World Curling Championship was rearranged for next month in Calgary, Canada.

The 14-team event, originally scheduled for Switzerland in March, was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But it will now take place as part of the Calgary bubble that includes the men's World Championship.

"It's really exciting," said former world champion Muirhead, 30.

She added: "The thought of being out there in Calgary in a bubble can be a little bit daunting, knowing you're going nowhere apart from your hotel room, the hire car and the arena.

"But if someone said to me over the past few months that I had the chance to do this, I'd had have jumped at the opportunity.

"So many times during the year there have been dark moments and we never knew what was going to happen, so for Curling Canada and the World Curling Federation to be able to put this together has been fantastic."

Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds and Lauren Gray have been confirmed as the Scotland team for the tournament, which runs from 30 April to 9 May and doubles as Winter Olympic qualifying, with the top-six teams guaranteed a place at Beijing 2022.

Muirhead won World gold eight years ago but her last appearance at the showpiece event was in 2017.