Winter Olympics: Great Britain's women to play for curling gold
- Published
'What a shot, wow!' - GB going for gold after beating Sweden in curling thriller
24th Winter Olympic Games |
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Hosts: Beijing, China Dates: 4-20 February |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text and highlights on BBC Sport website and mobile app |
Great Britain's women's curlers will play for Olympic gold after edging past Sweden 12-11 in an extra end after a tense and compelling semi-final.
British skip Eve Muirhead pulled off a remarkable score of four in the ninth end for an 11-8 lead, but counterpart Anna Hasselborg showed incredible nerve to secure three with her last stone.
That forced a decider, and Britain took one for victory.
"I'm pretty speechless right now but what a moment," Muirhead said.
She told BBC Sport: "It sounds amazing to say we're in an Olympic final.
"It is third time lucky. I've lost two semi-finals before and I was desperate for it. These moments and opportunities don't come around very often.
"I'm so proud of these girls. It is such a team game and all week we have dug so deep.
Britain will face Japan in Sunday's final at 01:05 GMT.
Before that, the men's team will play Sweden in their gold-medal match at 06:45 on Saturday.
Winter Olympics: Reaction as Great Britain reach women's curling final
It means the British team will end the Olympics with at least two medals after fears there would be no podium finishes for the first time since 1992.
The women's team got off to a nightmare start as Sweden took a 4-0 lead in the opening end, but pulled three back in the next end to set up what proved a gripping match.
The team of Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds, and Hailey Duff played an amazing penultimate end when 8-7 down, culminating in a fantastic tap shot from the British skip to register an amazing four - and a three-score lead.
But Hasselborg's Swedish rink got the better of them at this stage of the last Olympics, and looked to have ruined the party with the very last stone of the end.
Hasselborg delivered a perfect take out to score three, make it 11-11 and earn a chance to salvage the match.
However, the saving grace for Britain was they had last-stone advantage, and they showed the required nerve to keep the house wide open to ensure a crucial final score of one for victory.
Muirhead, 31, began her fourth Olympics by carrying the flag for the British team, and was determined to end it with the gold medal that had eluded her after bronze in Sochi in 2014, and fourth place in Pyeongchang four years later.
She will now get the chance to emulate Rhona Howie's gold-medal feat in Salt Lake City 20 years ago, against a Japanese side who stunned world champions Switzerland in the other semi-final.
'Just keep going and never give up' - reaction
'I'm speechless, what a moment' - GB skip Eve Muirhead on reaching women's Olympic curling final
Vicky Wright, Team GB's women's third: "First end, I was like: Here we go, buckle up. I fully believed in all of us and we could get it back. You just have to go for it and we did. We got there in the end."
Jen Dodds, Team GB women's second: "The aim of that second end was just to get ourselves back in the game so a three was an absolute bonus.
"We knew it was going to be tough. If you're going to lose a four, then lose it in the first end. We did but I think that just sums up our team so well.
"Just keeping going and going and never giving up. Such an important part of curling is supporting your team mates."
Hailey Duff, Team GB women's lead: "There was a little bit of an adrenaline rush when we got the four [in the penultimate end] but we really had to focus going into the last end and do everything we could to make sure we got the win."
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