Winter Olympics 2010: British curling hopes dashed by play-off defeat to Sweden

By Simon Hart in Vancouver Published: 1:16AM GMT twenty-five February 2010

Ice man: Great Britain"s David Murdoch during the Men"s curling play-off opposite Sweden Photo: PA

Despite a nail-biting fightback opposite Sweden in their tiebreaker yesterday, David Murdochs men in the future came up short, losing 7-6 after an additional end.

Too majority errors in the early stages of the compare left the British chasing the game, with Murdoch guilty of the majority critical inapplicable designation in the third finish when he longed for a slight takeout to palm Sweden a two.

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A integrate of British steals on the sixth and 7 ends lifted the hopes of the mostly GB-supporting throng in the Vancouver Olympic Centre, but it was Sweden who hold on to safeguard a semi-final assembly with Kevin Martins Canadian group today.

The outcome is a sour beating for a British group who came in to the Olympic contest as the reigning universe champions and with the mental value of carrying knocked about Canada in their prior 4 encounters.

Had they played to their capabilities, Murdoch and his colleagues would never been in the hazardous incident of a one-off tiebreaker in the initial place, but a jot down of fives wins and 4 waste from their 9 round-robin matches speaks volumes for their difficulties.

After their second loss of the tournament, to the ultra-negative Swiss, Murdoch had warned that the outcome competence come behind to show up them serve down the road. Unfortunately, he was valid right.

The disappointment for Britain is that, notwithstanding their craziness over the last eleven days, they were probably the usually group in the contest able of toppling the in-form Canadians, who have nonetheless to lose a match.

The round-robin strife in between the dual teams progressing this week was of the top peculiarity and, though Martin ran out a slight 7-6 winner, the outcome could simply have left the alternative approach as Murdoch constructed the kind of shot-making that has carried him to dual universe titles. It was the usually time in the contest that Martin has looked rattled.

Murdoch will right away have an additional 4 years to simulate on what competence have been. The one satisfaction is that, at 31, he still has copiousness of time to put things right. Martin, right away the strenuous prime for gold, is twelve years his senior.