Scotland slip to final-end defeat at World Curling Championships
BySportsbeat
Published 31/03/2019 at 19:17 GMT
Bruce Mouat's Scottish rink were dealt a bitter blow as a final-stone defeat to Switzerland condemned them to a first loss of the World Curling Championships in Canada.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Mouat and his team had clawed their way back from 4-2 down but a chance to pinch the match fell agonisingly short, with Swiss vice Benoit Schwarz holding his nerve to remove the Scottish stone with his final shot.
The quartet of Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan now sit with one win and one defeat from their opening two matches.
But with a second-session clash with the Netherlands to come, Mouat - who celebrated his 100th Scottish appearance with an opening over Russia - won't have too much time to dwell on the loss.
Canada lead the way with two wins from two but the hosts now have plenty of company, Japan holding off a late China fightback to remain perfect in the nascent stages.
After scoring four and three in ends three and seven respectively, it seemed as though Japan had done enough with an 8-3 lead.
But China roared back into contention, taking three in the eighth end to narrow the gap, only for Yuta Matsumara's rink to hold off the late charge.
Elsewhere, Germany and Korea played out a 10-9 thriller as the game was forced to an extra end.
Korea had levelled it up with four points in the final two ends but the Germans showed their composure to pick up their first win of the Championship.
And Sweden remained in the upper echelons of the early standings with a regulation 9-4 victory over the Netherlands.
Eight points in the first five ends was enough to down the Dutch as their late comeback fell short and the tie finished an end early due to the score difference.
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