Japan loses curling premiere for ladies to champion Sweden
Japan suffered an 8-5 defeat when the reigning gold medalist Sweden came from behind to win their first match in the Beijing Olympics for women in curling on Thursday.
Japan, the bronze medalist in Pyeongchang Games 2018, led 3-2 after the fifth finish but let Sweden steal three points in the sixth and gave away three more in the eighth when the round-robin with ten teams started, with four teams going on to semifinal.
The biggest chance for Hokkaido-based Loco Solare, who represented Japan four years ago, arrived in the ninth final with 8-4 behind.
Japanese curlers play in a round-robin match for women against Sweden at the Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 10, 2022 at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing. (Kyodo) == Kyodo
Skip Satsuki Fujisawa could have made four with one withdrawal, but her misplaced last shot could only make one against Sweden, ranked number one in the world.
“The state of the ice was different from official training,” Fujisawa said. “We have put them under pressure in a good way in the first half, but the theft (sixth end) after the half hurt the most.”
“We will reflect on today’s performance and have a good match next time.”
Japan, ranked seventh in the world, will face the next fifth ranked Canada on Friday.