Men's Curling Night 5: Sweden remains unbeaten, hands Canada first loss

Team USA had the night off Friday, but four other games were played as men's round robin action continues.

Sweden 5, Canada 2

Recommended Videos



Canada and Sweden came into Friday night's game both undefeated and at the top of the leaderboard. In a matchup of what could be a Gold Medal Game preview, Sweden's defense led the way for a 5-2 victory.

Canada put a zero on the board in all but one end. They scored two in the second end to jump out to an early lead, but it was nothing doing the rest of the way. Sweden, on the other hand, started very slow, with zeroes in the first four ends. But Niklas Edin's squad scored two in the fifth end and stole two more in the sixth for a lead they would not relinquish.

The two teams blanked four ends in the contest. Canada conceded the 10th end.

In the eighth, Canadian skip Kevin Koe threw hard for what he hoped would be a big double takeout. However, the attempt didn't work, and he ended up knocking a Swedish stone closer to the button to make the deficit bigger.

Sweden had a big takeout to clear the house in the ninth, but Koe's hammer throw ended up well short of the house for the blanked end instead of an easy point.

With one stone alone in the house, Canada's second to last throw of the 10th went too hard and wide left, forcing Koe and company to concede the final throw and ultimately the game.

The loss is the first in five games for the Canadian (4-1) team that is looking to win its fourth straight Olympic gold medal. Sweden, the defending bronze medalists who finished second at the World Championships last year, now sits alone at the top of the standings at 5-0 overall.

CAN 0    2    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    X - 2
SWE 0    0    0    0    2    2    0    1    0    X - 5 

Korea 11, Great Britain 5

The home team picked up its first win out of the PyeongChang games as the Koreans defeated Great Britain 11-5.

Korea dominated for most of the contest, scoring two points in the second, fifth and sixth ends as well as three in the eighth. The three points gave Chang-Min Kim and his Korean teammates a 10-5 lead late.

Kyle Smith and the British team had a chance at a possible three points in the ninth, but Kim's final throw knocked one yellow stone out, and Smith's hammer was much too hard, bouncing off of a Korean stone and bouncing out of the house, giving Korea another point. Smith's team conceded the final end.

Korean improves to 1-4 overall. Britain falls to 2-3.

KOR     0    2    1    0    2    2    0    3    1    X - 11
GBR     2    0    0    1    0    0    2    0    0    X - 5

Japan 6, Italy 5

It came down to the final throw, but Japan's Yusuke Morozumi was able to get a perfect takeout and reach the house for one point in the 10th and a 6-5 win over Italy.

Japan led for much of the early goings, scoring two in the first and fifth ends to take a 5-3 lead into the break. Morozumi's team went cold from there though, going four straight ends without a point while Italy was able to score one in the eighth and another in the ninth to tie the score at 5-5.

In the final end, Italy had one stone in the house with Japan throwing hammer. Morozumi's throw came down perfectly hitting the Italian stone and getting just enough gray into the house for the point and victory.

Japan improves to 2-2 in PyeongChang. Italy falls to 2-3.

JPN   2    0    1    0    2    0    0    0    0    1 - 6
ITA    0    1    0    2    0    0    0    1    1    0 - 5

Switzerland 7, Norway 5

Switzerland pulls off a come from behind victory to defeat Norway 7-5.

The two teams were tied at 2-2 at the midway point after blanking the fifth end. Norway scored twice in the sixth, a score Switzerland matched in the seventh. Norway took the lead again with a point in the eighth to go up 5-4, but Switzerland answered with two in the ninth and another stolen point in the 10th for the winner.

Switzerland improves to 3-2, third best record in the men's tournament. Norway falls to 1-3.

SUI   1    0    0    1    0    0    2    0    2    1 - 7
NOR 0    1    1    0    0    2    0    1    0    0 - 5

Team standings:

SWE  5-0

CAN  4-1

SUI  3-2

USA  2-2

JPN 2-2

GBR  2-3

ITA  2-3

NOR  1-3

DEN  1-3

KOR  1-4