The curling program commenced today on the ice at the Vancouver Olympic Centre with Sweden causing a major upset in the first round robin match by taking down the fancied Great Britain 6-4.
The Great Britain team, which comprises the Scottish team that are current world champions, could not get themselves into the match as Swedish ‘skip’ Niklas Edin called a perfect match for the Scandinavian outfit.
Great Britain took an early lead, 1-0, but Sweden hit the lead in the third end and scored a crucial two stones in the 8th end to surge to a 5-2 with two ends remaining.
Great Britain managed to bridge the gap to one, but in the last end Edin produced a crucial drive to knock the leading British stone out of the circle and claim the match.
Great Britain are considered one of the major gold medal chances along with hosts Canada, with Great Britain ‘skip’ David Murdoch having won his last four encounters against Canada.
Murdoch’s team will now need to lift their form in their remaining eight games to qualify for the semi-finals.
Norway almost shocked the home fans with a late surge against Canada before the hosts scored a 7-6.tie breaker victory. Trailing at one stage by 5-1, the Norwegians, donned in their dashing red, white and blue chequered pants, scored two points in the last end before placing the leading two bowls in the tie break end. Canada skip Kevin Martin then brought the fans to their feet in a crescendo of noise with a perfectly placed stone that sealed the match for the defending Olympic champions.
In the other first round matches, Switzerland beat Denmark 6-5, while Germany accounted for the USA 7-5.
David Polglase
AOC Vancouver
HAVE A GO AT OLYMPIC SPORTS