Curling: Scots disappointment as Swedes gain win

By MIKE HAGGERTY
Published on 23/03/2013 02:01

SCOTLAND are having to take the long route to the final of the Titlis Glacier Mountain World Women’s Curling Championship.

They faced Sweden in yesterday evening’s Page one versus two Play-off and looked like clinching victory until skip Eve Muirhead picked up some debris with her second-last stone of the game in the tenth end, leaving her stone out of position. This let Sweden score the three they needed for a 7-5 victory, meaning that Sweden instead of Scotland earned the direct route to tomorrow’s final.

With Scotland leading 5-4 after the eighth end, Sweden blanked the ninth end to retain last stone advantage in the tenth. The Scots had that end under control too, until Muirhead’s pick-up gave Sweden a chance. Even at that, Muirhead played a near-perfect freeze with her last, but Prytz was able to tap it out, as Sweden scored three for their win.

The Scots now face the winner of today’s Page three versus four Play-off – either Canada or USA – in this evening’s semi-final, with the winner of that joining Sweden in the final and the loser playing for bronze.

After the game a visibly upset Muirhead said: “That totally got away from us. We had a hellish pick-up on my second-last stone in the last. We had that end sealed up... that’s curling. You get these unfortunate breaks and what can you do?”