The Canadians, skipped by Jennifer Jones, who had finished first in the round robin section with 10 victories from 11 matches never recovered from a pair of misses in the fifth end and which Muirhead took advantage of to establish a 6-3 lead.

Muirhead, 19, then coasted to victory and ended up with a successful shot ratio of 89 per cent compared to her rival's 59 per cent.

Her rink of Kelly Wood, Lorna Vevers and Anne Laird had lost to the hosts just 48 hours earlier but they delivered when it mattered.

Muirhead admitted that coming back from two down at the end of the first end had given her a much-needed boost.

She said: "That shot gives you massive confidence.

"I was just hoping to keep them to one and getting one was a bonus out there.

"We managed to battle back and force them into a lot of tough shots."

Muirhead, the youngest skip in the event, now faces Germany's Andrea Schopp, the oldest at 45, the gold medal match.

Victory would be a huge bonus for the team's failure to make much impression at the Olympics in Vancouver last month when they won only three of their nine matches.

Muirhead said: "We were gutted after the Olympics.

"It took a lot for us to get over all of that and we came back and won the national championship.

"Our goal was to come out here and just perform well and hope to get a medal."

Muirhead, who is from Perth, has won the world junior title for the last three years and is considered the rising young star of the sport.

Schopp would have preferred to play Canada.

She said: "Eve is quite cool and a very good player.

"I hoped to play Canada, but it didn't work out.

"I think Canada would have been easier than Eve.

"I think Eve's team is better."