BRITAIN’S curlers lost to Sweden 6-7 following a deciding tie-breaker end on Day Five at the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver .
GB performed well throughout the game, controlling the style of play and employing good tactics.
The British side started strongly, going 1-0 and then 2-0 up in the first two ends. Sweden won the third and a draw in the fourth left the score 2-1.
GB continued to build on their strong position, going 3-1 up in the fifth. In the sixth end, Britain performed brilliantly to secure three points and take a 6-1 lead.
With their confidence high and a significant points advantage, the GB team started to play defensively from the start of the seventh end. But Sweden held their nerve under intense pressure to win three points in the seventh end and two points in the eighth to send the game into a final tiebreaker end.
The tiebreaker was inevitably tense with both teams playing well.
Sweden had several stones in the house but Britain had the hammer, and with her two stones Aileen Neilson delivered two excellent shots. Unfortunately for the British side the stones were just a few centimetres too long and Sweden were declared the winners.
Team Manager Tom Pendreigh said: “There wasn’t a lot that we did wrong in this match, therefore it is unfortunate for us to end up on the losing side.
“We dominated two-thirds of the match. We took the decision to play defensively in the seventh end knowing that even if we gave away three and then two we would go into the tie-break with the hammer. Aileen delivered two amazing stones in the last end but luck wasn’t on our side and they rolled just a little bit too far. I really feel for them.”
Speaking about the team’s performance overall in Vancouver, Pendreigh said: “It’s been a rollercoaster so far in these Paralympic Games but they have kept their business heads on and showed real team spirit throughout and I’m really proud of them.”
Later today, Britain’s wheelchair curling team will play Italy and Japan in the final two matches of the round-robin tournament.
Italy and Japan are joint seventh in the current rankings, just above GB, so the team will be looking to secure valuable points.
In the alpine skiing events Sean Rose and Russell Docker will compete in the Downhill event.
Rose finished third overall in the 2010 World Cup series in the Downhill event and was a World Cup gold medallist.
For full results see http://www.vancouver2010.com/paralympic-games/schedule—results/
