Winter Olympics: Team GB curling duo Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat suffer semi-final defeat vs Norway
Team GB’s curling gold medal hopes are shattered as duo Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat suffer second defeat in the space of 24 hours against Norway – but they now have one last shot at bronze
- British curling pair Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat lost their semi-final vs Norway
- Dodds and Mouat were the pre-Winter Olympic favourites to win gold this year
- But they fell to a 6-5 defeat against Norway in the semi-final on Monday
- Norway’s Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien prevailed after a tense game
Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat must settle for a bronze medal play-off after losing their Olympic mixed curling semi-final to Norway at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing.
The British pair led for more than half the match but it turned when Norwegian duo Kristin Skaslien and Marcus Nedregotten scored three points on their power-play in the sixth, then held on for a 6-5 win.
Dodds and Mouat will have to swiftly shrug off their disappointment and prepare for a bronze medal match against Sweden on Tuesday afternoon.
British curling pair Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat have crashed out of the Winter Olympics
The Team GB duo fell to a 6-5 defeat against Norway in the semi-final on Monday
The duo had confirmed their swift rematch against the Norwegians – against whom they had lost in the group stage 24 hours earlier – by beating the United States in their final group game on Monday morning.
Having trailed early in their round-robin tie, Britain made a much stronger start, taking the first end against hammer – or final stone – after Skaslien missed an attempted take-out.
A clever hit-and-roll by Dodds with the last stone of the third gave her a 3-1 lead and Norway were forced to settle for a single in the next, giving the Britons a 3-2 lead at the half-way stage.
The Brits made a solid start but paid the price for a few costly errors in the last three ends
Norway have advanced to Saturday’s final, where they will take on Italy out in Beijing
Dodds had a good chance to score heavily in the fifth, but narrowly mis-judged her attempt and deflected off a Norwegian guard, forcing her to take one and relinquish the hammer going into the sixth.
Dodds was made to pay for an inaccurate take-out attempt in the next, giving Skaslien the chance to take full advantage of the Norwegian powerplay and roll in for a three and a 5-4 lead.
Britain could only respond with a single point from their own power-play in the penultimate end, hauling the tie back level at 5-5 but giving the Norwegians the hammer advantage in the decider.
And despite Britain’s best efforts the match came down to Skaslien’s final shot, the Norwegian calmly rolling her final stone into the centre of the house to signal heartbreak for the British pair.
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