Winter Olympics 2022 - Team GB destroy defending champions Sweden in women's curling

Updated 10/02/2022 at 14:42 GMT

A dominant performance from Eve Muirhead and her Team GB women's curling rink saw them claim their first win of the round robin in Beijing, shocking the defending champions Sweden, who were caught well off their game. GB pounced on errors from their opponents, with four points in the fourth end giving them the confidence to see the result through.

Team GB's Eve Muirhead & Grant Hardie get set for Beijing 2022 curling conquests

Team GB beat defending Olympic champions Sweden 8-2 in the women’s curling round robin to take their first win of the competition.

Eve Muirhead’s quartet - which also features Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff - were looking for a big response after being beaten by Switzerland in their first match in Beijing.

They managed to get under the skin of their opponents in the early stages, with an early mistake from Anna Hasselborg seeing the Swedish skip smashing her broom against the floor as GB took a 1-0 lead.

Beijing 2022

Grainger vows Team GB will improve after Beijing disappointment

27/02/2022 at 16:04

Hasselborg’s annoyance at herself seemed only to motivate her though, as a beautifully-weighted final stone of the third end saw the Swedes draw level.

It was turning into a matter of Jekyll and Hyde starring Anna Hasselborg as two further mistakes in the fourth end gave GB the chance to take a big lead, in what would prove to be the decisive moment of the match.

Eve Muirhead stepped up to remove a red Swedish stone from the house and leave GB with four stones remaining to give them a 5-1 advantage.

Watch moment Muirhead and Ryding lead out Team GB at Beijing 2022 opening ceremony

Never would Muirhead’s team have thought they would be holding such a strong lead at the halfway point, but that is exactly what happened after taking a steal in the fifth end to be 6-1 ahead and feeling in control of the tie.

Sweden clawed a point back in the sixth, but GB demonstrated great control to close out victory in the eighth.

With two stones left for each team, Sweden attempted to lay another high guard to shut down the angles for Muirhead to reach the house, but the British skip had other ideas.

She beat the trap to shunt out the red stone occupying the target, leaving two blue stones remaining.

Sweden - resigned to defeat - failed to change the direction the game was heading, and Muirhead slid a perfectly weighted stone into the house to seal an emphatic victory.

Team GB have seven more fixtures to come during the round robin phase, with Pyeongchang silver medallists South Korea up next.

- - -

Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

Beijing 2022