Curling: Swedes end Scots hopes for play-off

Despite losing by 2-3 to Sweden in their ninth round-robin game at the Ford World Women’s Championship in Lethbridge, Canada, the Scottish women still had a chance of qualifying for a tie-breaker, but results in the next session – with Scotland sitting out – knocked Eve Muirhead’s team out of play-off contention.

The game against Sweden featured five blank ends – an indication of just how grimly determined the Scots were to win and keep their campaign alive.

Eventually good Scottish play in the ninth end forced Sweden to take one. Scotland then had victory in their hands when Muirhead came to play her last shot. She had to beat a Swedish counter lying at the back of the four-foot, but her draw came up millimetres short to let Sweden steal a single point to win by 3-2.

Afterwards, a shell-shocked Muirhead said: “We had control for the whole game and I thought I’d played a pretty good last stone. When you’re in control for the whole game and it comes down to a missed shot like that, it makes the skip feel pretty bad.”

The Scots face Italy and then Canada in Thursday’s concluding round-robin sessions. These are not meaningless games, however, as final ranking in this event will contribute to Olympic qualifying points.